The Yes, Bulgaria party announced today that it will file an appeal against the Central Election Commission’s (CEC) ruling that Prime Minister Rumen Radev’s statement supporting presidential candidate Iliana Iotova did not breach the election code. The party’s statement argues that the CEC’s refusal to rule on the merits of more than 105 complaints about the use of government channels to disseminate the Prime Minister’s call is an institutional shield for those in power.
Both BTA reports agree that the CEC, in a meeting held on October 26, found no administrative violation of the Election Code in the Prime Minister’s remarks, rejecting the complaint with an 8‑to‑7 vote. The Council of Ministers’ press office issued a press release reproducing the statement, which many observers argue functioned as campaign material. The CEC’s reasoning hinged on the timing of the statement—made after the first round of the presidential election and before the official campaign period—arguing that it was issued outside a state or municipal agency and was not campaign material under Article 183 of the Election Code.
In a statement issued from the Yes, Bulgaria party headquarters, spokesperson Bozhidar Bozhanov said:
The CEC must not become an institutional shield that protects those in power from scrutiny. The commission’s independence is an obligation to apply the law equally to everyone.The party also highlighted that the majority in the CEC consisted of representatives from Progressive Bulgaria and Vazrazhdane, alleging a “new assemblage” that is politically biased.
The Gurov‑Kandev nomination committee for the presidential ticket of Andrey Gurov and Georgi Kandev has gone further, appealing to the Supreme Administrative Court and filing a new complaint that the CEC failed to examine the dissemination of the Prime Minister’s call through official government channels. The committee demands that the support announcement be removed from the government’s website ahead of the upcoming election silence period.
