Korneliya Ninova Also in Bulgarian Socialist Party Chairperson Race

Lawmaker Korneliya Ninova has said she is to place her bid for the presidency of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP).

The senior partner in Bulgaria's government (which is to resign later in July) is to choose its next leader after Sergey Stanishev, who has headed the party since 2000, announced he would step down.

She has become the second woman to do so after Parliament's Deputy Speaker Maya Manolova confirmed she would accept the nomination from her party.

Earlier, the MP maintained she would not seek to run.

On Sunday, however, she cited the decision of Stanishev to resign, something she had previously been "sure" could not happen, and also the fact she had been nominated by party structures, as reasons why she changed her intentions.

"I, Korneliya Ninova, if elected Chair of the [Bulgarian] Socialist Party, will turn the BSP into a first political power, regardless of who its opponent is," website Dariknews.bg quoted her as saying.

In her view, the BSP should undergo organizational changes granting more rights to local structures, and vowed to restate "ideological purity" and "the categorical left essence" of the party if she takes the post.

Ninova added that she believed the battle for the presidency would an "honest" one.

For a long time, and especially as the socialists were in opposition, Ninova was among the most outspoken critics of moves by center-right GERB government (2009-2003).

Other candidates to take over from Sergey Stanishev include Economy and Energy Minister (and BSP Deputy Chair since July 5) Dragomir Stoynev and Parliament Speaker Mihail Mikov.

Stoynev, described by some as "the next Stanishev", is reported to be his most likely successor, a view...