Bulgarian Socialist Party Holds Congress Prior to Local Elections

The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) will hold its 48th National Congress at the National Palace of Culture on Sunday, starting at 10 am.

The socialists have gathered for a debate under the slogan ''It's time for justice''. After a series of poor results on local, parliamentary and presidential elections, the party members will be discussing the upcoming changes of the code of BSP.

Meanwhile, a number of leftist supporters have stated that the moment is extremely unsuitable for changes of this or any kind.

The proposed amendments will be affecting the policies implemented by former party leader and Bulgarian PM, who is also the current head of the Party of European Socialists (PES), Sergei Stanishev. Additionally, local leaders could be substituted only after a thorough evaluation by the party's head office, as a new change suggests.

Among the notable figures who have been opposing the amendments are Sergei Stanishev himself, Kiril Dobrev, Maya Manolova and Georgi Kadiev.

The new policies have been proposed mere months before the official start of the campaign for the country's local elections, in the hope of bringing satisfactory results.

For the very first time in the history of the party, the debate can be followed online through the social networks Facebook and Twitter through live updates.