Parliamentary Elections of 1994 and the Development of the Bulgarian Party System

Abstract

In the Bulgarian party system since the first free elections of 1990 the coalition of formations opposed to communism - the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) - was held together by the continuing strength of its opponent, the post-communist Socialist Party, yielding a case of delayed differentiation which sets Bulgaria off from the east-central European countries to its north. The elections of 1994 and their sequel saw the beginning of the end of the UDF's cohesion, but at the same time marked its consolidation as a party. Meanwhile the ideological transformation of the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the ascendancy of a new generation of young, pragmatically orientated politicians entrenched the post-communist party in the evolving party system. In the political space between these two poles, a place seems assured for the party of the Turkish minority, whilst a centre-right coalition of the historical Democratic Party with the Agrarians emerged from the elections better placed than its closest rival, centre-left centre-left Democratic Alternative for teh Republic.