Bulgaria’s President: Parliamentary elections will be held on April 4

The parliamentary elections will be held on April 4, Bulgaria’s President Rumen Radev said on January 14 in a public address, broadcast live on BNT.

I am addressing you on a day, on which the aftermath of the floods has not passed and thousands of people are expecting support, the President said at the opening of his statement.

At a time when institutions are devoid of trust, the elections is crucial, he added. For the first time, we will hold parliamentary elections in a pandemic and with the use of machine voting. The President thanked all those who responded to his calls for consultations on the vote.

He said he expects the Central Election Commission will offer all political entities and public organizations to participate in testing the voting machines.

He called for an update of the voters’ lists. Last year's events clearly showed that Bulgarians want change, Radev added. He said he had signed a decree setting April 4 as the date of the elections - a week after the first possible date.

"This week should be used to the maximum. I expect all institutions that have loudly declared their full readiness and the Bulgarian Parliament, which assured us it can adopt the necessary laws within a week, to work in such a manner at this time that they protect the health and ensure the right to vote of every Bulgarian citizen and no less important, to convince the Bulgarians that their vote will be correctly accounted for ", concluded the President.