The Bulgarian Green Party was established in December 1989. It was one of the first opposition organizations to be founded following the fall of the Communist regime.
The Green Party took part in the first democratic national elections in 1990 in coalition with the Union of the Democratic Forces (UDF). It won 17 seats in the Grand National Assembly (the Constitutional Assembly). The Greens were also widely represented at the municipal level, including a mayor position in Sofia. The mayor was A. Karakachanov, leader of the Green party.
After the UDF split in 1991, the Green Party did not manage to overcome the 4% threshold needed for Parliamentary representation in the elections of October 1991. The UDF split triggered a split in the Green Party as well, and part of the party remained in the coalition under another name (Conservative Ecological Party). Still, the Green Party kept its strong presence in local authorities in a number of big cities (e.g. In Sofia, the Greens got 8% of the seats in the Municipal Council).
In 1994, the Greens took part in the parliamentary elections within a new coalition (The Democratic Alternative for the Republic) and received 3.81% of the votes (only 0.19% off the threshold to enter Parliament!). In the municipal elections in October 1995, the Green Party won 37 seats in different towns and appointed 5 village mayors.
In the 1997 early national elections, the Green Party took part in the newly established coalition, Alliance for National Salvation, alongside the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (the Turkish party), the Liberal Union “New Choice”, the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union “Nikola Petkov” and the Party of the Democratic Centre. The party won two seats in Parliament. At present, the Party does not take part in coalitions .
Successful for the BGP were the municipal elections in October 1999. There the BGP participated solely without being in coalition. Except many counsellors and several village mayors, the party won and 2 positions for municipality mayors. All this made the BGP one of the 10th best presented parties in the elections
The elections in July 2001 were a deserved penalty for all the political classis of Bulgaria. They were gained from the National movement Simeon II, headed by the Bulgarian ex-king. The two big parties lost up to two thirds of their electorate but the loss for the smaller parties was even greater. The Green party, in coalition with the famous Political Club “Ecoglasnost” and supported from many other formations, received its worst results ever.
Current Political Situation
The political situation in the country is totally unpredictable. The winners from the national movement Simeon II came with left orientated promises for accelerated improvement of the economical situation of the voters. However, only months after the elections, the taxes, the prices of goods and energy sources increased not only with percents but with times! Meanwhile, there is no any visible sign for the people that we will overwhelm the recession. The public xnxx dissatisfaction is getting higher and higher each passing day.
Political Goals
In this situation, the major political goals of the Green Party are the following:
1. Organizational and political recreation from the electoral loss which mentally influenced a part of its activists
2. Reconsideration of its general political ideas and introducing them to its voters in a more attractive way
3. Working out its tactics concerning its future partners according to the new economical and social ambiance in the country