Bulgaria's Parliament Еnds Last Session, Leaving Behind Mixed Legacy

A motley Bulgarian Parliament ended its last session on Thursday before noontime, adopting several pieces of legislation.

The 43rd National Assembly, which existed for just two years and three monhs, will be disbanded as of January 27, Friday.

There were eight parliamentary factions as the legislature was set up in the autumn of 2014 (compared to four in the previous assembly) - including two nationalist blocs, one of "centrists", center-right and center-left parties, right-wingers and lawmakers whose exact views remain yet unclear. 

But a number of lawmakers splintered off within the next year, additionally fragmenting debates and votes. The first MPs to declare independence in the plenary hall did so in the very first days as lawmakers were sworn in.

Then followed six lawmakers from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) party's faction as the latter's leader had been expelled and set up his own movement, with several MPs deciding to break away and join him.

In December of 2015, several Reformist Bloc lawmakers practically formed a group of their own after declaring they would move into opposition, contrary to the rest of the RB which was the junior partner in the government.

Another parliamentary group, called the Bulgarian Democratic Center, was formed around Bulgaria without Censorship party of Nikolay Barekov MEP but some of its members gradually took the party's core MPs away from it and seized control of the faction, effectively driving Barekov out of parliamentary life.

The two main nationalist factions - those of Ataka and the Patriotic Front - entered Parliament as competing groups but joined hands ahead of the presidential election, vowing to run together.

When it comes to laws, as many as 296 of the...