12023 | 9 Jan. 2026 | 13:26
On January 14, the National Assembly will resume its work, and the parliamentary elections will most likely take place at the end of March. Before the start of the hot political season, we offer you an overview of the activity of the parties in 2025 and a forecast for 2026, prepared by the Institute for Strategies and Analyses (ISA). The conclusions of ISA were made throughout the past year. We remind them with a focus on expected developments in the new political cycle. We continue our publications with the MRF- the party that was in the focus of attention throughout 2025.
For the MRF, 2025 was an extremely dynamic year, and this dynamism will also be transferred to the entire 2026. The reasons are both related to the elections - parliamentary and presidential, as well as the focus on the leader of the party, Delyan Peevski.
The political processes throughout 2025 were driven by Peevski. The leader of the MRF mobilized the party from the start of 2026. This happened on the occasion of the party's birthday (January 4), which, according to him, "in years of trials, but also in years of nation-building of the newest political history of Bulgaria, MRF has been a factor of stability and responsibility."
In a candid address to members and supporters, he stated: "The next extraordinary parliamentary elections are ahead of us. And they will not be easy. There will be attacks. There will be hatred. There will be attempts to divide and provoke. But we know who we are. We know why we are here. And we know why we are needed by the people and Bulgaria.“
The conclusion of the ISA is that the trials reinforce and mobilize the 36-year-old party. After the protests and the resignation of the cabinet, the MRF and its leader are facing key elections - first parliamentary, and then presidential.
The main clash will be with the CC-DB coalition. The confrontation with Rumen Radev will continue, especially if he takes to the party field.
What were the important moments of the political plot around the MRF in the past year?
In January, MRF-NB started as an opposition in parliament, and after the withdrawal of support for the cabinet by Ahmed Dogan's group, it stood behind the government until the resignation was submitted. In the last eight months of 2025, the role of the ruling party was growing, with a number of important votes in the National Assembly passing with its support (such as the rejection of President Rumen Radev’s proposal for a referendum).
A major characteristic of the dynamics surrounding the party was the hyperactivity of Delian Peevski, who effectively set the political tone in parliament and often stimulated the work of the executive power.
The process went through several phases.
From day one in the 51st National Assembly, the deputies of MRF- NB declared their opposition to CC-DB and the influence of Soros on Bulgarian politics, which is a continuation of a political line with a long history. According to ISA, the rhetoric of Delian Peevski, directed critically towards opposition parties and primarily towards CC-DB, positioned him closer to the field of governance rather than the opposition.
April was crucial in clarifying the situation between the two groups in the National Assembly - MRF-Dogan and MRF-NB. At that time, ISA stated that MRF-Dogan appeared exhausted as leadership. Not only Dogan, but also the "myth of Dogan" was weakened. The withdrawn support for the government by MRF-Dogan did not shake the governance.
In May, the knot was finally untied. Dzhevdet Chakarov takes a photo with Peevski and resigns as co-chairman of MRF. The split within MRF came to an end, with Peevski emerging as the winner.
In June, consolidation processes began within MRF under the leadership of Delyan Peevski. New municipalities joined the regional administration. The unification of the Kardzhali municipalities also ended as part of the "New Beginning for Regional Development" strategy.
By July, Delyan Peevski was the sole chairman of MRF.
ISA draws the following conclusions:
- MRF is expanding and signaling its desire to become an influential centrist formation, rather than a balancer. During the time of Dogan, the emphasis was on the "Bulgarian ethnic model", while now the focus is on working for the benefit of the people.
The local government and new young leaders are the pillars of the MRF.
In September, the confrontation with CC-DB and "Soros" escalated to peak levels, and ISA included in its analysis several key theses that are key to the events of the last three months of 2025.
We remind you of some of them: After Peevski took over the leadership of MRF, the clear difference is along the line of conservatism-globalism, with CC-DB being close to the policy of the current administration in the White House, and CC-DB to the ideological views of the Democrats. Pelevski did not randomly react after the murder of Charlie Kirk with a statement directed against his opponents. He also took a clear stance on the case with Venezuela (January 6): "The democratic world needs strong and brave leadership to protect democracy and freedom from hybrid wars, electoral fraud and narco-terrorism. The President of the United States, Donald Trump, set a great example for this by removing dictator Nicolas Maduro."
Pelevski is a strong leader and a dangerous opponent whom the liberal community underestimates. The CC-DB were forced to revive street pressure tactics against an opponent/enemy who is one of the most powerful political factors in the country. The coalition has adopted an aggressive, offensive style of political game.
MRF and CC-DB are also very different structurally and electorally. The bright proof of this is that CC-DB lost electorate due to its interaction with Peevski within the “coalition”, while MRF- not. The clash in September sparked Peevski's key phrase: "I will create a state with a capital "D"! Strengthening the role of the state in the processes of governance and regulations is a political goal that Peevski has repeatedly announced. She is in sync with the new conservatism, which stops the advancement of globalization as an ideology and practice, and corrects the extremes of market fundamentalism.
The leader of the party, Delian Peevski, has many opponents who are becoming more radical and who effectively recognize him as the influential factor in the country.
Peevski's strong side is his commitment to the municipalities, where people can directly see the results of the new policy of pragmatism and solving real problems related to living standards or daily life. At this point, Peevski has fulfilled all his promises as a leader to his people. His structures are working at maximum capacity.
In October, the MRF (Movement for Rights and Freedoms) won the elections for municipal councilors in Pazardzhik - the event that stressed and motivated both allies and opponents of Peevski and his party. This was the starting point for a turning point in political processes.
Boiko Borissov requested a "reformatting of the government", while Peevski appointed a negotiating team because "the most important thing is to maintain stability in the country".
The two parliamentary groups signed a joint agreement and MRF-NB received the right to participate in the meetings of the Joint Management Council, but without the right to vote. Peevski explicitly refused to participate in the government structures of the country.
Here are some of the reasons for the success of the MRF in Pazardzhik, which we outlined in our analysis for October: The party's focus is on active work in municipalities, with projects that address key problems related to quality of life taking top priority. The presence of MRF representatives in the regions is strong not only during election campaigns.
The party's influence in local areas is growing, and this is the foundation from which its national influence can "take off". MRF is the only party of the transition that operates on the principle that election preparation begins the day after elections are over. In other words, party work is a continuous process, not just a campaign.
Developments in October - the elections in Pazardzhik and talks about the potential restructuring of the government - put the party in the spotlight of public attention. The final result was an increase in the perception of Delian Peevski's key role in Bulgarian politics. Tensions escalated in November and December, and poor communication on the budget issue led to a series of mistakes - ultimately resulting in a growing sense of dissatisfaction and Prime Minister Borisov's decision to resign. Peevski's comment: "The decision to resign is up to the mandate holder and the coalition parties. We supported them in order to help the people, because of the budget which was very social and we defended it." "We said 'NO to oligarchy' and to lowering taxes for it, there should have been a dividend tax, a tax on gambling. In order to have enough resources for all social classes. This is our opinion - Bulgaria should be a social state and help people."
In his first reaction to Peevski's resignation, he also pointed out another issue, targeting both his main opponent, CC-DB, and the President: "At the moment, all responsibility falls on the coalition 'Soros' - I mean CC-DB. And I just want to say one more thing - the winner is someone else, he should come today." ISA'S CONCLUSIONS: Peevski's attack against CC-DB turned him into the main target of the protest, and his response did not delay - it came in the form of rejecting the symbols of power that were used against him by his opponents. First and foremost – Mirchev and the peppercorns focused on the mythical office 222A, formerly used by Zhivkov, and later with the consent of CC-DB provided to Peevski. He immediately released it "in the name of a peaceful state" and turned it into a "patchwork" museum to show how with the participation of MRF and personally of Peevski all power and legislative decisions were made during the time of Nikolai Denkov's government. The exhibition, which became public, includes photos of Peevski with leaders of CC-DB from the time of their joint work within the scope of the CC-DB mandate.
With this move, MRF entered the election period, and we expect the main focus of the campaign to be the exposure of the double standards in the behavior of the main opponent – CC-DB. The attack on the president will be powerful, especially if the less likely scenario - him leaving with his party - is realized.
We expect the focus of the MRF's positive campaign to be on working for the benefit of citizens, with a priority on social groups who are in greater need of state redistribution.
One of Delian Peevski's recent comments, made with 2025 in mind, gives reason to believe this: "There must be a state. The state's issues are not Peevski's cabinet, the state's issues are not Borisov's or Peevski's security. The state's issues are speculation, the prices of goods and services, people's wages", emphasized the MRF leader and head of MRF-NB.
Peevski is a reactive politician. He has a nose for real problems and the ability to always provide effective solutions. Repeatedly emphasized is the importance that the transition to the euro does not happen at the expense of the people. As a parliamentary group of MRF- NB, it is noted that a major problem is the serious concerns about speculative price increases. The group demands specific information from competent institutions - the Commission for Protection of Competition (KZK), the Commission for Consumer Protection (KZP) and the Stock Exchange and Commodity Exchange Commission regarding specific measures taken against traders who engage in speculation, information on the current prices of basic goods in the large consumer basket, as well as sanctions imposed on established violators.
A week before the start of the new session of the National Assembly, the group has proposed a bill that would allow the government to determine basic goods included in the so-called Consumer Basket, as well as a ceiling for their markup of 20%.
We expect one of the main themes in the campaign to be the slogan "No to hate!", which MRF has already declared within the framework of counter-protests.
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