Bulgaria is entering a pivotal political phase as President Iliana Yotova moves to activate the constitutional steps for appointing a caretaker prime minister and setting a date for early parliamentary elections. After the Constitutional Court ruled on Friday to prematurely end Rumen Radev’s mandate, Yotova formally took over as head of state, becoming the first woman to hold the post.

Further reading: Officially: Iliana Yotova Becomes Bulgaria’s First Female President as Rumen Radev Steps Down

The process begins this week with consultations required under the Constitution. On Tuesday, January 27, at 11:00 a.m., President Yotova will hold her first official meeting with the Speaker of the 51st National Assembly, Raya Nazaryan. The talks are being held in line with Article 99, paragraph 5 of the Constitution and focus on the procedure for selecting an acting prime minister from the limited pool of eligible candidates defined by the Basic Law.

Under the revised constitutional framework, the range of possible nominees is restricted to figures listed in the so-called “house book.” At the top of that list stands Parliament Speaker Raya Nazaryan herself. Other eligible names include Bulgarian National Bank Governor Dimitar Radev and his deputies, although one of them, Andrey Gyurov, was recently removed from the BNB Governing Board following proceedings by the Anti-Corruption Commission. The Chair of the Court of Accounts, Dimitar Glavchev, is also among the options, having already served as the first caretaker prime minister under the new constitutional rules. The Ombudsman, Velislava Delcheva, and her deputy, Maria Filipova, are likewise included among the potential candidates.

After completing consultations with parliamentary forces, President Yotova is expected to nominate one of the eligible figures for caretaker prime minister. The nominee will then be required to present the composition of an interim cabinet. Following further talks with political parties, the president will issue a decree appointing the caretaker government.

That decree will also determine the timeline for the early parliamentary vote. According to constitutional provisions, elections must be scheduled within two months of the caretaker cabinet’s appointment. However, if the procedure takes longer to complete, the vote may be pushed back until after Easter, making a mid-to-late April election a realistic scenario.

Further reading: Early Elections in Bulgaria Likely Only After Easter