discussed and approved proposals for
candidates for chairman and deputy chairman of the National Assembly,
membership of the State Council, Council of Ministers, heads of the
different commissions, chairman of the Supreme Court, and chief
prosecutor. Nominees were submitted for discussion and confirmation
during the first session of the sixth National Assembly held on July 7,
1971.

An amendment to the 1971 Constitution on the nomination of candidates by
the leadership of public organizations obtained official sanction not
only for the purpose of expediency but more importantly to guarantee the
election of the nominees, as there had been cases of nonelection during
the previous elections for people's councils. The election law also
provides that candidates must garner 50 percent plus one vote in the
electoral districts before being declared elected. Statistics of
election results for people's councils in 1949 and 1966 showed that the
percentage of votes ranged from 96.48 percent of the voting population
in 1949 to 99.56 percent in 1966. The new amendment required that
two-thirds of the registered voters cast their ballots in favor of the
candidates before declaring that an election had taken place.

CHAPTER 9

POLITICAL DYNAMICS

In mid-1973 political affairs and the administration of the country
remained completely in the hands of the ruling circle of the Bulgarian
Communist Party (Bulgarska Komunisticheska Partiya--BKP, see Glossary),
headed by First Secretary Todor Zhivkov. Political power was exercised
by him and by the few select officials in the Central Committee of the
Bulgarian Communist Party, particularly those who were members of the
Politburo and the Secretariat. The extent of such power was best
described by Vulko Chervenkov, onetime premier and Politburo member, who
declared that "no institution, organization, or person can be above the
Politburo and the Central Committee." This statement, made in the early
1950s, continues to be the cardinal rule of communist power in Bulgaria.

Retention of power by the party was ensured through its absolute control
of governmental machinery and of all organized activities. Virtually
every important government post was held by a high-ranking party member.
First Secretary Zhivkov, for example, was also president of the State
Council, the leading government body, which made him the top man in both
party and government. In addition to the interlocking of gover