Bulgaria's 2015 Local Elections: Has Veliko Tarnovo's Mayor Already Been Appointed?

Local elections are coming in just days, and Novinite is fully aware it did not provide the campaign coverage a news outlet covering a particular country usually does whatever vote is forthcoming.

This was avoided on purpose, and in a short opinion piece after the vote we will explain why. Instead, we are offering short summaries about key candidates in Bulgaria's five biggest cities. These are Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, and Veliko Tarnovo.

Far from being an "extended ballot" - i.e. a full list of candidates with acclarations - each one is a selection of several candidates - either those who belong to one of the biggest parties or whose bid can easily be singled out for something in particular.

Following the summaries about the key candidates in Sofia and Plovdiv, the old Bulgarian capital of Veliko Tarnovo comes next - with summaries arranged in random order. The incumbent mayor seems to be confident in his reelection, pointing to the numerous achievements during his first term. However there is one thing, which might hamper to some extent his reelection, namely the unsuccessful bid of Veliko Tarnovo to be selected as 2019 European Capital of Culture. 

Eight candidates for mayor and 384 nominees for municipal councillors will be contesting the forthcoming local elections in the city of Veliko Tarnovo on October 25.

This represents a considerable decrease in the number of candidates compared to the last local elections in 2011, when there were 13 candidates for mayor and 540 nominees for municipal councillors, local daily Borba informs.

The candidate of the main ruling party, GERB, is the incumbent mayor...