This article gives an overview of liberalism and radicalism in Bulgaria

Bulgaria

Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...

. It is limited to liberal

Liberalism

Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...

 and radical

Far left

Far left, also known as the revolutionary left, radical left and extreme left are terms which refer to the highest degree of leftist positions among left-wing politics...

 parties

Political party

A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...

 with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ denotes another party in that scheme. For inclusion in this scheme it isn't necessary so that parties labeled themselves as a liberal party.

Background

Liberalism was a dominant political force at the end of the nineteenth century. The current got strongly divided.

History

After the restoration of democracy in 1990, some parties got a liberal character.
Liberalism is now represented by the mainly Turkish minority party Movement for Rights and Freedoms

Movement for Rights and Freedoms

The Movement for Rights and Freedoms is an ethnic Turkish party in Bulgaria. The MRF is a member of the Liberal International and considers itself a liberal party, rather like the Swedish People's Party - party of the Swedish-speaking minority of Finland...

 (Dviženie za prava i svobodi, observer LI

Liberal International

Liberal International is a political international federation for liberal parties. Its headquarters is located at 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HD within the National Liberal Club. It was founded in Oxford in 1947, and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties and for the...

, member ELDR) and the National Movement for Simeon II (Nacionalno Dviženie Simeon Vtori, member LI

Liberal International

Liberal International is a political international federation for liberal parties. Its headquarters is located at 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HD within the National Liberal Club. It was founded in Oxford in 1947, and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties and for the...

, ELDR), both taking a more or less liberal position.

From Liberal Party to Democratic Party

• 1879: Liberal forces united in the Liberal Party (Liberalna Partija)
• 1884: A right-wing faction formed the ⇒ Progressive Liberal Party
• 1886: Another right-wing faction formed the ⇒ People's Liberal Party
• 1887: A third faction formed the ⇒ Radoslav Liberal Party
• 1896: The party is renamed into Democratic Party (Demokratičeska Partija)
• 1905: A radical faction seceded as the ⇒ Radical Democratic Party
• 1923: A faction joined the Democratic Alliance (Demokratičeski Sgovor)
• 1934: The party is banned by the dictatorship
• 1945: The party is revived
• 1947: The party is banned by the communist dictatorship
• 1989: The party is revived as a Christian conservative party

Progressive Liberal Party

• 1884: A right-wing faction of the ⇒ Liberal Party formed the Progressive Liberal Party (Progresivnoliberalna Partija)
• 1920: The party merged into the United National Progressive Party (Obedinena Narodnoprogresivna Partija)

People's Liberal Party

• 1886: A right-wing faction of the ⇒ Liberal Party formed the People's Liberal Party (Narodnoliberalna Partija)
• 1920: The party merged into the ⇒ National Liberal Party

Radoslavist Liberal Party / National Liberal Party

• 1887: A right-wing faction of the ⇒ Liberal Party formed the Radoslav Liberal Party (Liberalna-Radoslavistka Partija)
• 1904: A right-wing faction seceded as the ⇒ Tonchevist Young Liberal Party
• 1920: The party merged with the ⇒ Tonchevist Young Liberal Party and the ⇒ People's Liberal Party into the National Liberal Party (Nacionalliberalna Partija)
• 1934: The party is banned by the dictatorship

Tonchevist Young Liberal Party

• 1904: A right-wing faction of the ⇒ Radoslav Liberal Party seceded as the Tonchevist Young Liberal Party (Mladoliberalna Partija-Tončevisti)
• 1920: The party merged into the ⇒ National Liberal Party

Radical (Democratic) Party

• 1905: A radical faction of the ⇒ Democratic Party seceded as the Radical Democratic Party
  Radical Democratic Party (Bulgaria)
  The Radical Democratic Party is a liberal party in Bulgaria. The party was founded in 1902 by Naičo Canov and other dissidents from the Democratic Party. It was banned in 1934, revived in 1944 and again banned in 1949....
  
  (Radikaldemokratičeska Partija)
• 1922: The party is renamed Radical Party (Radikalna Partija)
• 1923: A faction joined the Democratic Alliance (Demokratičeski Sgovor)
• 1934: The party is banned by the dictatorship
• 1945: The party is revived
• 1949: The party is banned by the communist dictatorship
• 1989: The party is refounded as the Radical Democratic Party
  Radical Democratic Party (Bulgaria)
  The Radical Democratic Party is a liberal party in Bulgaria. The party was founded in 1902 by Naičo Canov and other dissidents from the Democratic Party. It was banned in 1934, revived in 1944 and again banned in 1949....
  
  (Radikaldemokratičeska Partija)
• 1990s: The party took part in various electoral alliances with decreasing success

Movement for Rights and Freedoms

• 1990: Representatives of the Turkish minority formed the Movement for Rights and Freedoms
  Movement for Rights and Freedoms
  The Movement for Rights and Freedoms is an ethnic Turkish party in Bulgaria. The MRF is a member of the Liberal International and considers itself a liberal party, rather like the Swedish People's Party - party of the Swedish-speaking minority of Finland...
  
  (Dviženie za Prava i Svobodi), that develops in a more or less liberal direction

National Movement for Simeon II

• 2001: Followers of the ex-king formed the personalist National Movement for Simeon II (Nacionalno Dviženie Simeon Vtori), that takes a more or less liberal position in the spectrum

Liberal leaders

• Pre-communist period
  • Democratic Party: Petko Karavelov
    Petko Karavelov
    Petko Karavelov was a leading Bulgarian liberal politician who served as Prime Minister on four occasions....
    
     - Aleksandar Malinov
    Aleksandar Malinov
    Aleksandar Pavlov Malinov was a leading Bulgarian politician who served as Prime Minister on three occasions. He was born in Pandakli, Bessarabia in a family of Bessarabian Bulgarians....
    
     - Nikola Mushanov
    Nikola Mushanov
    Nikola Stoykov Mushanov was a Bulgarian liberal politician who served as Prime Minister and leader of the Democratic Party....
    
    
  • Progressive Liberal Party: Dragan Tsankov
    Dragan Tsankov
    Dragan Kiriakov Tsankov was a Bulgarian politician and the first Liberal Party Prime Minister of the country....
    
     - Stoyan Danev
    Stoyan Danev
    Stoyan Petrov Danev was a leading Bulgarian liberal politician and twice Prime Minister.A legal graduate of both the University of Heidelberg and the University of Paris, Danev served in a number of Ministerial roles, including Foreign Minister, and became known as a strong supporter of Imperial...
    
    
  • People's Liberal Party: Stefan Stambolov
    Stefan Stambolov
    Stefan Nikolov Stambolov was a Bulgarian politician, who served as Prime Minister and regent. He is considered one of the most important and popular "Founders of Modern Bulgaria", and is sometimes referred to as "the Bulgarian Bismarck".- Early years :Stambolov was born in Veliko Tarnovo...
    
     - Dimitar Petkov
    Dimitar Petkov
    Dimitar Nikolov Petkov was a leading member of the Bulgarian People's Liberal Party and the country's Prime Minister from November 5, 1906 until he was assassinated in Sofia the following year....
    
    
  • Radoslavist Liberal Party: Vasil Radoslavov
    Vasil Radoslavov
    Vasil Radoslavov was a leading Bulgarian liberal politician who twice served as Prime Minister. He was Premier of the country throughout most of World War I....
    
    
• Post-communist period
• Zhelyu Zhelev
  Zhelyu Zhelev
  Zhelyu Mitev Zhelev is a Bulgarian politician and former dissident who was the first democratically elected President of Bulgaria, he is elected for his first mandate by the Parliament for the period 1990 to 1992, in January 1992 general elections are held when he is reelected for his second...
  
   - Ahmed Dogan
  Ahmed Dogan
  Ahmed Demir Dogan is a Bulgarian politician.- Biography :He is the founder and leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms , a liberal party that represents the interests of the Turkish minority in Bulgaria...
  
  

See also

• History of Bulgaria
  History of Bulgaria
  The history of Bulgaria spans from the first settlements on the lands of modern Bulgaria to its formation as a nation-state and includes the history of the Bulgarian people and their origin. The first traces of human presence on what is today Bulgaria date from 44,000 BC...
  
  
• Politics of Bulgaria
  Politics of Bulgaria
  Politics of Bulgaria take place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime minister is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the...
  
  
• List of political parties in Bulgaria