nce 19 May 1997); Deputy Prime Ministers
Aleksandur BOZHKOV (since 12 February 1997), Evgeniy BAKURDZHIEV
(since 21 May 1997), Veselin METODIEV (since 21 May 1997)
cabinet: Council of Ministers elected by the National Assembly
elections: president and vice president elected on the same ticket
by popular vote for five-year terms; election last held 27 October
and 3 November 1996 (next to be held NA 2001); chairman of the
Council of Ministers (prime minister) nominated by the president;
deputy prime ministers nominated by the prime minister
election results: Petar STOYANOV elected president; percent of
vote--Petar STOYANOV 59.73%

Legislative branch: unicameral National Assembly or Narodno
Sobranie (240 seats; members elected by popular vote to serve
four-year terms)
elections: last held 19 April 1997 (next to be held NA 2001)
election results: percent of vote by party--UDF 52%, BSP 22%, ANS 7%,
Euro-left 5.5%, BBB 4.95%; seats by party--UDF 137, BSP 58, ANS 19,
Euro-left 14, BBB 12

Judicial branch: Supreme Court, chairman appointed for a
seven-year term by the president; Constitutional Court, 12 justices
appointed or elected for nine-year terms

Political parties and leaders: Bulgarian Socialist Party or BSP
(coalition led mainly by Movement for Rights and Freedoms or DPS
cochairmen]

Political pressure groups and leaders: Democratic Alliance for
the Republic or DAR; New Union for Democracy or NUD; Podkrepa Labor
Confederation; Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Bulgaria
or CITUB; Bulgarian Agrarian National Union--United or BZNS;
Bulgarian Democratic Center; "Nikola Petkov" Bulgarian Agrarian
National Union; Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization or
IMRO; agrarian movement; numerous regional, ethnic, and national
interest groups with various agendas

International organization participation: ACCT, BIS, BSEC, CCC,
CE, CEI, EAPC, EBRD, ECE, EU (applicant), FAO, G- 9, IAEA, IBRD,
ICAO, ICFTU, ICRM, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IHO (pending member),
ILO, IMF, IMO, Inmarsat, Intelsat, Interpol, IOC, IOM, ISO, ITU,
MONUA, NAM (guest), NSG, OPCW, OSCE, PCA, PFP, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO,
UNIDO, UNMIBH, UNMOP, UPU, WEU (associate partner), WFTU, WHO, WIPO,
WMO, WToO, WTrO, ZC

Diplomatic representation in the US:
chief of mission: Ambassador Philip DIMITROV
chancery: 1621 22nd Street NW, Washington, DC 20008
consulate(s): New York