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A 5-% threshold for preferential vote at European elections was established by Bulgarian lawmakers.
The decision taken by the MPs late on Thursday lowers the threshold enacted by the current Electoral Code, which is 6%.
This means voters at the European elections will have the option to choose a specific candidate and anyone with more than 5% support could position himself on top of his party's list.
Legislators, however, have also approved the Movement of Rights and Freedoms (DPS) party's proposal that ballots wherein preference has not been marked will automatically be counted as a "preference vote" for the list's current leader, Bulgarian agency Mediapool.bg reports.
MPs from the opposition party GERB claimed that the ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party had accepted the measure as a concession to the DPS, which stultifies optional preference vote.
Bulgarian media tycoon and notorious oligarch Delyan Peevski has officially retired the “New Beginning” label as his party prepares for the upcoming parliamentary elections, according to an announcement from the DPS press office
During a gathering in Stara Zagora with nearly 1,000 mayors from villages, municipalities, and regional cities, GERB leader Boyko Borissov spoke candidly about the party’s achievements and the upcoming electoral challenges
GERB leader Boyko Borissov met with ministers from the outgoing “Zhelyazkov” cabinet after they formally handed over power to the caretaker government, using the gathering to review the work of the administration and outline the party’s next political ste
Delyan Peevski, leader of the DPS-New Beginning parliamentary group, issued a strongly worded statement in response to the swearing-in of the “Gyurov” caretaker government before the National Assembly
GERB is set to hold a reporting and election national assembly on March 22 in Sofia, marking the start of the campaign for the early parliamentary elections scheduled for April 19
On Monday, Delyan Dobrev, chair of the parliamentary Budget and Finance Committee, former minister and long-standing figure in GERB, is expected to submit a request to withdraw both from the party’s Executive Committee and from parliament
About 1 200 000 "phantom voters" can be found in Bulgarian elections lists, Mihail Konstantinov, formerly a high-profile official in charge of elections, believes.
Bulgaria's Central Electoral Commission (CEC) starts receiving documents for the registration of political parties and coalitions for the early elections on October 5.
A majority in the European Parliament has approved Jean-Claude Juncker to be President of the European Commission, reports BBC.
The European Parliament is expected to approve on Tuesday the nomination of former Luxembourg PM Jean-Claude Juncker as president of the European Commission.
Former Environment Minister Iskra Mihaylova has become the nomination of the European Parliament's ALDE group to chair the Regional Policy Committee.
The European Parliament has re-elected Martin Schulz for a second presidential term, with 409 votes from the 751 MEPs.
