Union of Democratic Forces (Bulgaria)

Not to be confused with United Democratic Forces.
Union of Democratic Forces
Leader Bozhidar Lukarski
Founded 7 December 1989
Headquarters 134 Rakovska Str.,
Sofia 1000
Membership 12,000 (2016) down from 1 mln (2000)
Ideology Conservatism[1]
Christian democracy[1]
National conservatism[2]
Anti-communism[3][4]
Pro-Europeanism[5][6][7][8]
Political position Centre-right[9][10]
National affiliation Reformist Bloc
European affiliation European People's Party
International affiliation Centrist Democrat International,
International Democrat Union
European Parliament group European People's Party
Colours Blue
National Assembly
4 / 240
European Parliament:
0 / 17
Website
http://www.sds.bg/

The Union of Democratic Forces (Bulgarian: Съюз на демократичните сили, Sayuz na demokratichnite sili, СДС, SDS) is a political party in Bulgaria, founded in 1989 as a union of several political organizations in opposition to the communist government. The Union was transformed into a single unified party with the same name. The SDS is a member of the European People's Party (EPP). In the 90s the party had the largest membership in the country of one million members.[11]

History

Dissident groups formed under the faltering regime of Todor Zhivkov in the late 1980s were the basis for the Union. Once Zhivkov fell, a loose political confederation was envisioned where constituent groups could continue to work for their own cause, while the coordinating council would include three members from each organization. The Longtime dissident philosopher Zhelyu Zhelev, who would later become Bulgaria's President, was elected chairman, and Petar Beron, a well-known environmental scientist, was chosen as secretary.

The SDS was officially founded on 7 December 1989 as a union of eleven political organizations, such as Ekoglasnost, Bulgarian Social Democratic Workers' Party (United) and Bulgarian Agrarian People's Union "Nikola Petkov". The following year, six more parties were incorporated (Radical Democratic Party, Green Party of Bulgaria, Democratic Party, New Social Democratic Party, United Democratic Centre, Democratic Front).[12][13]

The SDS lost the 1990 elections to the Bulgarian Socialist Party but still participated in the joint cabinet of Dimitar Iliev Popov. On 15 May 1991 39 members left the SDS because of disagreements with the draft of the new constitution and founded the new organizations SDS-Center and SDS-Liberals. Later the remnants of the SDS formed their own cabinet with Prime Minister Filip Dimitrov in November 1991, though the cabinet lasted only a little over a year when the government failed a motion of confidence in September 1992. The socialists, together with the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, formed a coalition government headed by Prof. Lyuben Berov. Following the resignation of Berov's cabinet in October 1994, the BSP went on to win the 1994 elections.

However, following discontent over economic problems, Prime Minister Zhan Videnov resigned at the end of 1996, clearing the way for new elections, this time won by the SDS with a crushing 55% vote. Party leader Ivan Kostov went on to form the new government and successfully passed several economic reforms. He was eventually rewarded in December 1999 with an invitation to begin membership talks with the European Union. But public discontent over the social cost of the reforms, including increased unemployment, as well as allegations of corruption led to the SDS's defeat in the June 2001 elections, which were won by the National Movement for Simeon II. The United Democratic Forces won 18.2% of the popular vote and 51 out of 240 seats.

The SDS was chaired until the May 20, 2007 European elections by Petar Stoyanov, former president of the country. Meanwhile, Kostov, the former Prime Minister and SDS party leader went on to form his own party - Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria. At the 2005 parliamentary election, the United Democratic Forces won 8.4% of the popular vote and 20 out of 240 seats.

It was announced at the inaugural conference of the Movement for European Reform (MER, March 2007) that the SDS would become official partners alongside the British Conservative Party and the Czech Civic Democratic Party.[14] In mid April 2007, the SDS backtracked on its decision, stating that it remains loyal to the EPP and that it will never leave the EPP section of the EPP-ED Group to join another Group.

In the May 20, 2007 European elections the SDS failed to elect even a single MEP, resulting in the resignation of Stoyanov who led the list.

At the start of 2009 the SDS entered in an electoral alliance named the "Blue Coalition" with four other center-right parties: the DSB, the United Agrarians, the Bulgarian Social Democratic Party and the Radical Democratic Party. The alliance fielded candidates for the June 2009 European election winning a seat. When the Lisbon Treaty came into force in December of that year, their representation doubled. Now both the SDS and the DSB had an MEP.

The Blue coalition placed fifth in the legislative election a month later with a combined 6.8% of the vote and 15 seats.

In the May 2013 elections, the SDS lost all of its seats in the Bulgarian National Assembly.

United Democratic Forces

For the 1997 parliamentary elections, an alliance named United Democratic Forces was formed around SDS. The same name was later used for other elections and parliamentary groups.

The Blue Coalition

In early 2009 an alliance was formed together with Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria for the European Parliament elections and National Assembly elections. The coalition was named the Blue Coalition and included some other parties.

The Reformist Bloc

The coalition agreement to form the alliance of the Reformist Bloc was signed on 20 December 2013. The five parties that signed the agreement were: Union of Democratic Forces, Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria, Bulgaria for Citizens Movement, People's Party Freedom and Dignity, and the Bulgarian Agrarian National Union.[15]

List of chairmen

Chairmen of the Coordination Council

Chairmen and Chairwomen of the unified party

Election results

Bulgarian Parliament
Election # of seats won # of total votes % of popular vote rank Government
1990 144 2,217,798 36.2 2nd Caretaker Government
1991 110 1,903,567 34.4 1st Coalition
1994 69 1,260,374 24.2 2nd Opposition
1997 137 2,223,714 52.3 1st Coalition
2001 51 830,338 18.2 2nd Opposition
2005 20 280,323 7.7 5th Opposition
2009 15 285,671 6.8 5th Opposition
2013 0 48,681 1.4 12th Opposition
2014 23 291,806 8.9 4th Coalition

See also

Conservatism portal

References

  1. 1 2 Nordsieck, Wolfram, "Bulgaria", Parties and Elections In Europe, retrieved 7 November 2012
  2. ↑ Bakke, Elisabeth (2010), "Central and East European party systems since 1989", Central and Southeast European Politics Since 1989, Cambridge University Press, p. 79, retrieved 17 November 2011
  3. ↑ Hanley, Seán (2006), "Getting the Right Right: Redefining the Centre-Right in Post-Communist Europe", Centre-Right Parties in Post-Communist East-Central Europe, Routledge, p. 18
  4. ↑ Metodiev, Momchil (2009), "Bulgaria", Transitional Justice in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union: Reckoning with the communist past, Routledge, p. 161
  5. ↑ The JCMS Annual Review of the European Union in 2008 By Nathaniel Copsey, Tim Haughton, page 56
  6. ↑ Anderson, Richard D. (2001), Postcommunism and the Theory of Democracy, Princeton University Press, p. 147
  7. ↑ Postcommunism and the Theory of Democracy By Richard Davis Anderson, page 147
  8. ↑ Routledge Handbook of European Elections edited by Donatella M. Viola, page 639
  9. ↑ Bugajski, Janusz (2007), The Eastern Dimension of America's New European Allies, Strategic Studies Institute, p. 147
  10. ↑ Szczerbiak, Aleks; Hanley, Seán (2006), "Understanding the Politics of the Right in Contemporary East-Central Europe", Centre-Right Parties in Post-Communist East-Central Europe, Routledge, p. 7
  11. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on March 13, 2016. Retrieved March 13, 2016.
  12. ↑ http://www.omda.bg/bulg/news/party/sds.htm
  13. ↑ Coordinating Council of the Union of Democratic Forces. Demokratsiya Newspaper, 27 April 1990.
  14. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on June 25, 2007. Retrieved March 7, 2007.
  15. ↑ "Bulgarian Rightists Seal Reformist Bloc Coalition". Novinite.com. Sofia News Agency. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
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