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Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria
Граждани за европейско развитие на България
Abbreviation GERB
Leader Boyko Borisov
Founded 3 December 2006 (2006-12-03)
Split from National Movement Simeon II
Headquarters Sofia
Membership (2018) 94,000
Ideology
Political position Centre-right
National affiliation GERB—SDS
European affiliation European People's Party
International affiliation
  • International Democrat Union
  • Centrist Democrat International
European Parliament group European People's Party
Colours      Blue
National Assembly
67 / 240
European Parliament
5 / 17
Municipalities
101 / 265
Party flag
Flag of GERB.svg

GERB, an acronym for Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (Bulgarian: Граждани за европейско развитие на България), is a conservative populist political party which was the ruling party of Bulgaria between 2009–2013 and 2016–2021.

History

GERB is headed by former Prime Minister of Bulgaria Boyko Borisov, the former mayor of Sofia, former member of the National Movement Simeon II and former personal guard of Todor Zhivkov in the 1990s. The establishment of the party followed the creation of a non-profit organization with the acronym (in Bulgarian) GERB — Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, earlier the same year.

In early January 2007, and early February 2007, the party came second in public polls on party support with around 14%, trailing the Bulgarian Socialist Party which had around 25%. Its stated priorities are fighting crime and corruption, preserving family as the cornerstone of society and achieving energy independence.

GERB won the 2009 European Parliament election in Bulgaria with 24.36% of the vote. The party elected five MEPs and joined the European People's Party-European Democrats Group in the European Parliament (in the EPP section). On June 6, 2007, GERB applied formally to join as a member-party the European People's Party and joined EPP on February 7, 2008.

GERB won the 2009 parliamentary elections, held a month after the European ballot, winning 39.7% of the popular vote and 116 seats (out of 240). After the elections, a new government was formed, led by Borisov, primarily with GERB members and with 5 independent ministers around Deputy Prime Minister Simeon Djankov. The reformist wing was responsible for some of the most significant legislative victories, including a Constitutional reform to ban tax increases. GERB's candidates for the 2011 presidential election, Rosen Plevneliev and Margarita Popova (presidential nominee and running mate, respectively), won the elections on the second ballot with 52.6% of the popular vote.

On 20 February 2013, the government resigned after nationwide protests demanding it to step down. GERB lost the 2013 parliamentary elections with 84 seats, receiving 27.5% of the popular vote. However, due to the collapse of the coalition government in 2016 due to a new, even bigger wave of mass protests, GERB backed into power after the snap elections.

In 2020 GERB suffered a split, as a sizable number of members and local party organizations left alongside former second-in-command Tsvetan Tsvetanov to form the Republicans for Bulgaria party. The whole second half of 2020 saw mass protests against the GERB government, but nevertheless, Borisov did not resign.

In the April 2021 parliamentary election GERB was first with 26.18% of the vote. In the July 2021 snap election, former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov's GERB-led coalition was the second with 23.51 percent of the vote. The next snap election was in November same year, Kiril Petkov's coalition emerged as surprise victors over the conservative GERB party, which dominated Bulgarian politics in the last decade. GERB has been in opposition since December 2021 until June 2022 - the fall of Petkov's government.

List of chairmen

No. Name
Portrait Term of office
1 Tsvetan Tsvetanov

(1965–)

Zvetanov 01.jpg 3 December 2006 10 January 2010
2 Boyko Borisov

(1959–)

Boyko Borissov in Tehran.jpg 10 January 2010 Incumbent

Parliamentary leaders

No. Name
Portrait National Assembly
1 Krasimir Velchev

(1951–)

Krasimir Velchev (41NS).png 41st
2 Boyko Borisov

(1959–)

Boyko Borissov in Tehran.jpg 42nd
3 Tsvetan Tsvetanov

(1965–)

Zvetanov 01.jpg 43rd
4 Daniela Daritkova

(1966–)

44th
5 Desislava Atanasova

(1978–)

DesislavaAtanasova.png 45th
46th
47th
48th
49th
6 Boyko Borisov

(1959–)

Boyko Borissov in Tehran.jpg 49th

Electoral history

National Assembly

Election Votes  % Seats +/– Status
2009 1,678,583 39.72 (#1)
116 / 240
Minority
2013 1,081,605 30.55 (#1)
97 / 240
Decrease 19 Opposition
2014 1,072,491 32.67 (#1)
84 / 240
Decrease 13 Coalition
2017 1,147,283 32.65 (#1)
95 / 240
Increase 11 Coalition
Apr 2021 837,707 25.80 (#1)
73 / 240
Decrease 22 Snap election
Jul 2021 642,165 23.21 (#2)
60 / 240
Decrease 13 Snap election
Nov 2021 596,456 22.44 (#2)
57 / 240
Decrease 3 Opposition
2022 634,627 24.48 (#1)
64 / 240
Increase 7 Snap election
2023 669,924 25.39 (#1)
67 / 240
Increase 3 Coalition

Presidential

Election Candidate First round Second round
Votes % Rank Votes % Result
2011 Rosen Plevneliev 1,349,380 40.1 1st 1,698,136 52.6 Won
2016 Tsetska Tsacheva 840,635 22.0 2nd 1,256,485 36.2 Lost
2021 Anastas Gerdzhikov 610,862 22.8 2nd 733,791 31.8 Lost

European Parliament

Election Votes  % Seats +/–
2007 420,001 21.68 (#1)
5 / 18
2009 627,693 24.36 (#1)
5 / 18
Steady
2014 680,838 30.40 (#1)
6 / 17
Increase 1
2019 607,194 30.13 (#1)
5 / 17
Decrease 1

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Ciudadanos por el Desarrollo Europeo de Bulgaria para niños

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