5636 | 4 June 2025 | 17:42

Representatives of the main political forces decide for the two rounds of the upcoming elections for the National Assembly to be held on 10 and 17 June 1990, and for the president (chairperson) of the country to be elected by the parliament

The celebration of the 35th anniversary of the National Round Table of 1990 will take place on June 5th, as reported by the Bulgarian News Agency (BTA), citing the organizers of the event. Representatives from UDF and BSP will participate. The start is scheduled for 10:00 am in the same hall at the National Palace of Culture (NPC), where the Round Table was also held more than three decades ago - hall 6.

BTA recalls the facts. On January 3rd, 1990, the document "Agreement for Dialogue" was signed. Андрей Денев – безпартиен депутат Consultations on holding a roundtable between representatives of the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP), Bulgarian Agricultural Popular Union (BAPU), and non-party MPs with representatives of the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) are starting in the National Assembly. The meeting was attended by Andrey Lukanov - member of the Politburo and Secretary of the Central Committee of the BCP, Chairman of the parliamentary group of the BCP, Alexander Lilov - member of the Politburo and Secretary of the Central Committee of the BCP, Belcho Belchev - member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the BCP, Minister of Finance, Georgi Pirinski - member of the Central Committee of the BCP, Deputy Prime Minister, Todor Kyurkchiev - member of the Central Committee of the BCP and Head of the "Organizational" Department, Ivan Angelov - spokesperson of the Central Committee of the BCP, Victor Valkov - Secretary of the Popular Party of the BAPU, Chairman of the parliamentary group of the BAPU, Svetla Daskalova - Secretary of the Popular Party of the BAPU, Minister of Justice, Svetoslav Shivarov - member of the Popular Party of the BAPU, and academician Andrey Denev - non-party MP. Николай Грозданов- Blagovest Sendov - independent, Lyuben Kulishev - independent. Representatives of SDS, created on December 7th, 1989, participating in the consultations are Zhelyo Zhelev - chairman of the union, Petar Beron - secretary of SDS, Dr. Petar Dertliev - deputy chairman of BSDP /0/, Milan Drenchev - secretary of BZNS "Nikola Petkov", Dimitar Batalov - president of the Club for the Repressed after 1946, Rumen Vodenicharov - president of the Independent Association for Human Rights Protection, Georgi Avramov - secretary of the independent association "Eco-voice", Dr. Konstantin Trenchev - president of the independent Federation of Labor "Support", Petko Simeonov - president of the Club for Freedom of Speech and Democracy, Lyubomir Sobadzhiev - president of the Movement for Civil Initiative, Petar Kanev - representing the chairman of the Committee for Protection of Religious Rights, Freedom of Conscience and Spiritual Values, hieromonk Hristofor Sabyev, Emil Koshlukov - chairman of the Coordinating Committee of Independent Student Associations, Prof. Nikolay Grozdanov. Blagovest Sendov - independent, Lyuben Kulishev - independent.

From the side of the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF), established on December 7th, 1989, Zhelyo Zhelev - chairman of the union, Petar Beron - secretary of UDF, Dr. Petar Dertliev - deputy chairman of the Bulgarian Social Democratic Party, Milan Drenchev - secretary of the Union of Democratic Forces "Nikola Petkov", Dimitar Batalov - chairman of the Club for the Repressed after 1946, Rumen Vodenicharov - chairman of the Independent Society for the Protection of Human Rights, Georgi Avramov - secretary of the Independent association "Eco-voice", Dr. Konstantin Trenchev - president of the Independent Trade Union Federation "Support", Petko Simeonov - president of the Club for Freedom of Speech and Democracy, Lyubomir Sobadzhiev - president of the Movement for Civil Initiative, Petar Kanev - representing the chairman of the Committee for Protection Elka Konstantinova - Chairperson of the Radical Democratic Party, and Georgi Spasov - spokesperson of the Union of Democratic Forces.

The first meeting of the Round Table was opened on January 16, 1990 in the National Assembly with the aim of achieving the Bulgarian transition to democracy. This was followed by plenary sessions, which were broadcasted live on national media.

On January 22, 1990, the first meeting of the Round Table was held at the National Palace of Culture. The night before its opening, the first newspaper of the UDF "Round Table" was released.

On March 12, 1990. Agreements on the political system, National Agreement for ensuring peaceful transition to a democratic political system and Declaration on the role and status of the National Round Table have been signed.

At the meeting on March 30, three agreements were signed, which provide for the elimination of the State Council institution, the Head of State (President or Chairperson) to be elected by the National Assembly, and the two rounds of the upcoming election for the Great National Assembly (GNA) to be held on June 10 and 17, 1990. An agreement on the main ideas and principles of the draft Law on Political Parties and the draft Law on the Election of the GNA has been reached.

On May 14, 1990, the final meeting of the National Round Table, led by Alexander Lilov, took place at the National Palace of Culture. Four agreements have been signed: an Agreement on Guaranteeing Free Elections; a Code of Conduct for Election Campaigns; an Agreement regarding the basic provisions of the status of Bulgarian television and radio; and an Agreement for Election Campaigns on Radio and Television.

Following the facts come the evaluations. It is indisputable that the National Round Table took key decisions that left a mark on Bulgaria's transition from totalitarianism to democracy. This happened during a time of extremely high interest in politics. Every Round Table session, which was broadcasted live, gathered a million viewers.

One of the most important decisions was to hold elections for the Grand National Assembly, which would devise the new Constitution of Bulgaria. But there are also other issues: to relax the party organizations at the workplace, to abolish citizenship, to guarantee freedom of speech and press, to depoliticize the army, the police, the judiciary, the prosecution and the diplomacy, etc.

According to historian Prof. Dimitar Ludzhev (former Minister of Defense), the round table was one of the symbols of the peaceful revolutions in Eastern Europe, and in Bulgaria it played the role of a temporary parliament.

Petko Simeonov, then chairman of the Club for Glasnost and Democracy, defines the Round Table as one of the most significant events in the new history of Bulgaria.

35 years later, at the conference at the National Palace of Culture, memories and evaluations of participants, as well as political scientists and researchers, will be heard.