The largest opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) will negotiate with other left parties on the nomination of a joint candidate to contest the forthcoming presidential elections in the autumn.

After a meeting of the political council of the “BSP-Left Bulgaria” coalition on Saturday, thirteen of the parties constituting the coalition agreed to jointly contest the presidential elections.

The newly elected leader of BSP, Korneliya Ninova, was granted mandate to negotiate with other left parties on the nomination of a joint presidential candidate.

On Tuesday, the Socialists will hold a meeting with the parliamentary represented Alternative for Bulgarian Revival (ABV), a splinter of BSP headed by former President Georgi Parvanov.

Also on Tuesday, BSP will hold negotiations with Movement 21, a party founded by former Socialist MP Tatyana Doncheva.

The meeting with representatives of VMRO, one of the constituent parts of the Patriotic Front (PF), which supports the coalition government, will be held on Wednesday..

At the first round of talks, the participants will discuss the platform, the political framework for contesting the presidential elections and the profile of the presidential and vice-presidential candidates.

Candidates have to express the national interest, to conduct balanced foreign policy and to unite the nation. They have to be patriots and proponents of the policies typical of the left political spectrum.

Until the end of next week, a second round of negotiations will take place.