2006 Bulgarian presidential election

{{Short description|none}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}

{{Infobox election

| country = Bulgaria

| type = presidential

| previous_election = 2001 Bulgarian presidential election

| previous_year = 2001

| next_election = 2011 Bulgarian presidential election

| next_year = 2011

| election_date = 22 October 2006 (first round)
{{nowrap|29 October 2006 (second round)}}

| turnout = 44.11% (first round) {{increase}} 2.48pp
42.62% (second round) {{decrease}} 12.30pp

| image1 = {{CSS image crop|Image = Georgi_Parvanov.jpg |bSize = 120|cWidth = 110|cHeight = 150|oTop = 0|oLeft = 0}}

| nominee1 = Georgi Parvanov

| party1 = Bulgarian Socialist Party

| running_mate1 = Angel Marin

| popular_vote1 = 2,050,488

| percentage1 = 75.95%

| image2 = {{CSS image crop|Image = Volen_Siderov_ATAKA.jpg |bSize = 120|cWidth = 110|cHeight = 150|oTop = 0|oLeft = 0}}

| nominee2 = Volen Siderov

| party2 = Attack (political party)

| running_mate2 = {{ill|Pavel Shopov|bg|Павел Шопов}}

| popular_vote2 = 649,387

| percentage2 = 24.05%

| title = President

| before_election = Georgi Parvanov

| before_party = Bulgarian Socialist Party

| after_election = Georgi Parvanov

| after_party = Bulgarian Socialist Party

}}

Presidential elections were held in Bulgaria on 22 October 2006, as decided on 27 July 2006 by the Bulgarian Parliament.{{cite news |url=http://netinfo.bg/?tid=40&oid=914555 |publisher=Netinfo |title=На 22 октомври гласуваме за президент, реши парламентът |date=27 July 2006 |accessdate=22 October 2006 |author=Darik.net}} The runoff took place on 29 October 2006, while the electoral campaign spanned 19 September – 20 October. At the election, Georgi Parvanov won his second and final term as President of Bulgaria.

Some of the right-wing parties were disunited at the time but still chose to support a common candidate, Nedelcho Beronov. Prime minister and head of the Socialist Party Sergey Stanishev expressed his strong support for the current president, Georgi Parvanov, in July 2006,{{cite web |url=http://www.mediapool.bg/show/?storyid=119915 |publisher=Mediapool |title=Станишев: Победата на Първанов е важна за утвърждаване на кабинета |accessdate=22 October 2006 |date=28 July 2006 |last=Yotova |first=Boryana |language=Bulgarian}} and Parvanov officially stated his desire to run for a second term on 25 August 2006.{{cite web |url=http://www.president.bg/news.php?id=2683&st=0 |publisher=President.bg |title=Инициативен комитет издигна кандидатурата на Георги Първанов за втори президентски мандат |language=Bulgarian |date=25 August 2006 |accessdate=22 October 2006}} He was also backed by the other two members of the then ruling Triple coalition – NDSV and DPS.

In the first round, incumbent Georgi Parvanov received 64% of the vote, ahead of nationalist leader Volen Siderov who came second with 21.5%.{{cite web |url=http://www.izbori2006.org/results_1/ |title=Elections 2006: Final results for the country according to the Central Electoral Commission for the President and Vice President Elections |language=Bulgarian |accessdate=24 October 2006 |publisher=Izbori2006.org |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20061126044027/http://www.izbori2006.org/results_1/ |archivedate=26 November 2006 }} However, Parvanov was forced into a runoff with Siderov, as Bulgarian law requires a turnout of 50% for a president to be elected in the first round.{{cite news |title=Bulgaria's Parvanov wins 1st round presidential poll |url=http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews&storyID=2006-10-22T171346Z_01_L22677436_RTRUKOC_0_US-BULGARIA-ELECTION.xml&pageNumber=0&imageid=&cap=&sz=13&WTModLoc=NewsArt-C1-ArticlePage2 |publisher=Reuters |date=22 October 2006 |accessdate=22 October 2006 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070331061726/http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=worldNews |archivedate=31 March 2007 }} Turnout for the first round was 44%. The defeated right-wing forces called for abstention, while some far-left formations{{citation needed|date=December 2013}} expressed their support for Siderov.

The second round saw Parvanov win a decisive victory with 75.9% as opposed to Siderov's 24.1%,{{cite web |url=http://www.izbori2006.org/results_2/ |title=Elections 2006: Final results for the country according to the Central Electoral Commission for the President and Vice President Elections |language=Bulgarian |accessdate=30 October 2006 |publisher=Izbori2006.org |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070108150458/http://www.izbori2006.org/results_2/ |archivedate=8 January 2007 }} meaning that Parvanov became the first person to be democratically re-elected as President of Bulgaria.Zhelyu Zhelev, although having served two terms, was elected as a president not by popular vote, but by the National Assembly for his first term. Second round turnout was 43%.