Outgoing Bulgarian Socialist Leader to Run for 2 Term as PES President

Sergey Stanishev, outgoing leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), has said he will run for a second term in office as President of the Party of European Socialists (PES).

Speaking Sunday at the 48th Congress of BSP in the National Palace of Culture (NDK) in Sofia, Stanishev told the delegates that it was his last congress as BSP leader.

He said that he was leaving office with high-self esteem and with confidence about the achievements reached through mutual efforts and about the future of the party.

Stanishev said that July 27th was a day for taking stock of his activities as BSP head.

He noted that he had been more anxious than happy upon assuming office as BSP Chair on December 15, 2001, at the age of 35, due to the huge responsibility he had faced.

“13 years on, I managed to change quite a lot of things, but there were also a lot of things I was unable to change,” Stanishev said, as cited by Darik radio, adding that he had never been able to put up with the things which had resisted change.

The BSP Chair pointed out that Sunday’s congress carried a heavy burden of expectations as supporters of BSP anticipated a strong signal for consolidation in the party.

Prior to Stanishev’s speech, the delegates were shown a video titled “13 years in 13 minutes” which reminded of key events such as the formation of the government headed by Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev in 2005, the reelection of Georgi Parvanov as President in 2006, Bulgaria’s EU accession in 2007, etc.