Parliament
Bulgaria is a Parliamentary Republic and the basic power in the country is the legislative one. The Parliament (The National Assembly) exercises the legislative power, as well as the right to parliamentary control.The mandate of the National Assembly is a 4 - year one.The National Assembly consists of 240 MPs. They are elected directly by the voters for a 4 year term, on the basis of the proportional system. So that the parties and the pre-election coalitions enter the National Assembly, they must collect above 4% of the total number of votes at the elections. The MPs of the National Assembly represent not only their election regions, but the whole nation as well. The MPs work in compliance with the Constitution and the legislation, following their conscience and convictions. The National Assembly elects temporary and permanent commissions, where MPs participate. It adopts laws, decisions, declarations and statements. Every member of the National Assembly, or the Council of Ministers has the right to introduce a draft of a law. The draft law on the state budget is developed and introduced by the Council of Ministers.

Elections can be called before the end of the parliamentary term in certain circumstances, such as the Government losing a confidence vote. Following elections, the largest parliamentary group is asked to form a Government. A simple parliamentary majority is required to approve a Government, comprised of the Council of Ministers, and to pass normal legislation. A three-quarters majority is required to approve constitutional changes.

President
The President is the Head of State and is elected with direct elections once in every five years, for not more that two mandates. The Vice President is elected at the same time, with the same voting paper, and under the same conditions and procedure, as of the President.

The President is the supreme commander of the military forces of the Republic of Bulgaria. He assigns and discharges the supreme command staff of the military forces and promotes the supreme officers into higher ranks on proposals by the Council of Ministers. The President is the Chairperson of the Consultative Council for national security and has the power to:

 declare war in case of armed attack against Bulgaria, or if necessary, the country's implementation of international agreements;
declares general, or partial mobilization on request of the Council of Ministers;
 declares martial law, or any other state of emergency, at cases when the National Assembly is not in session and is impossible to be called;
 gives order to the Prime Minister to form the government;
 selects the date of the elections for the National Assembly, as well as for the local self-management authorities;
  points out the date for national referendum, after the corresponding decision of the National Assembly;
 approves the adopted by the Parliament laws with a Decree, signed also by the Prime Minister, or by the relevant Minister;

The President's duties include to schedule referenda, to represent Bulgaria abroad and to conclude international treaties.

The last elections for President of the Republic of Bulgaria

The two rounds of the last elections for new President and Vice President were held on 11 and 18 November 2001. Six nominations for President and six nominations for Vice President, presented by four political parties, one coalition and one initiative committee took part in the first round of elections. At the second round the candidates of the coalition "Coalition for Bulgaria" won 54.13 % of the votes /won 2043443 votes/. Mr. Georgi Parvanov was elected President of Bulgaria. Mr. Angel Marin was elected Vice President of Bulgaria. They took office as President and as Vice President on 22 January 2002.

Government
The government (The Council of Ministers) is the main body of the executive power, headed by the Prime Minister. The Council of Ministers is responsible for carrying out government policies and programs. It rules and conducts the internal and foreign policy of the state, secures the public order and the national security, manages the state budget, exercises control over the public administration and the military forces.

Prime Minister
The Prime Minister to be is nominated by the largest parliamentary group, after which the President hands in the mandate to him for forming the government. The proposed Council of Ministers is voted by the National Assembly, which controls directly the activity of the government.