July 5 appears twice in Bulgaria’s history as a day when power was formally handed over — once to a prince assembling his very first government, once to a party sweeping into parliament with a commanding majority.
July 5, 1879 — Prince Alexander I Appoints Bulgaria’s First Cabinet
On this day, Prince Alexander I issued Decree No. 1, appointing the first cabinet of the restored Bulgarian state following liberation from Ottoman rule. The decree, subsequently published in the State Gazette, established the template for how governments would be formed under Bulgaria’s new constitutional monarchy — a system that needed to balance the prince’s authority with the emerging parliamentary institutions still finding their footing in the young principality.
It was a foundational administrative act: the moment when the theoretical independence granted at the Congress of Berlin in 1878 began to translate into the practical machinery of a functioning state, with ministers assigned to portfolios and a government ready to govern.
July 5, 2009 — GERB Wins a Decisive Parliamentary Victory
One hundred and thirty years later, the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party — GERB — led by Boyko Borissov, won the parliamentary elections with close to 40 percent of the vote and 116 seats in the 41st National Assembly. The result was one of the most decisive wins in Bulgarian post-communist electoral history, bringing a new political force to power at a moment of significant economic uncertainty.
GERB would go on to dominate Bulgarian politics for well over a decade, reshaping the country’s party landscape and proving to be one of the most durable political movements since the fall of communism in 1989.
Look back at July 4 or read on to July 6. Discover more of Bulgaria through our travel guides and the Bulgaria From Above series.
