Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria Граждани за европейско развитие на България | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | GERB[1] |
| Chairman | Boyko Borisov[1] |
| Deputy Chairmen[2] | Tomislav Donchev Daniel Mitov |
| Founded | 3 December 2006 (2006-12-3) |
| Split from | National Movement Simeon II |
| Headquarters | Sofia |
| Membership(2018) | 94,000[3] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre-right[15] |
| National affiliation | GERB–SDS |
| European affiliation | European People's Party |
| European Parliament group | European People's Party |
| International affiliation | |
| Colours | Blue |
| National Assembly | 68 / 240 |
| European Parliament | 5 / 17 |
| Municipalities | 99 / 265 |
| Party flag | |
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| Website | |
| www | |
GERB, an acronym forCitizens for European Development of Bulgaria[1] (Bulgarian:Граждани за европейско развитие на България,romanized: Grazhdani za evropeysko razvitie na Bŭlgaria), is aconservativepopulist[6][7]political party which was the ruling party ofBulgaria during the periods between 2009–2013, 2016-2020, 2025-present and was supporting the government between 2023-2024.
GERB is headed by formerPrime Minister of BulgariaBoyko Borisov, the formermayor of Sofia, former member of theNational Movement Simeon II and former personal guard ofTodor Zhivkov in the 1990s. The establishment of the party followed the creation of a non-profit organization with theacronym (in Bulgarian) GERB —Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, earlier the same year.
In early January 2007,[17] and early February 2007,[18] the party came second inpublic polls on party support with around 14%, trailing theBulgarian Socialist Party which had around 25%. Its stated priorities are fighting crime and corruption, preservingfamily as the cornerstone of society and achievingenergy independence.
GERB won the2009 European Parliament election in Bulgaria with 24.36% of the vote. The party elected fiveMEPs and joined theEuropean People's Party Group in theEuropean Parliament (in theEPP section). On June 6, 2007, GERB applied formally to join as a member-party theEuropean People's Party[19] and joined EPP on February 7, 2008.[20]
GERB won the2009 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 MinisterSimeon 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 the2011 presidential election,Rosen Plevneliev andMargarita Popova (presidential nominee and running mate, respectively), won the elections on the second ballot with 52.6% of the popular vote.
On February 20, 2013, the government resigned afternationwide protests demanding it to step down.[21] GERB lost the2013 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 anew, even bigger wave of mass protests, GERB backed into power after thesnap elections.
In 2020 GERB suffered a split, as a sizable number of members and local party organizations left alongside former second-in-commandTsvetan Tsvetanov to form theRepublicans for Bulgaria party.[22] The whole second half of 2020 sawmass protests against the GERB government, but nevertheless, Borisov did not resign.
In theApril 2021 parliamentary election GERB was first with 26.18% of the vote. In theJuly 2021 snap election, former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov's GERB-led coalition was the second with 23.51 percent of the vote.[23]The next snap election was in November same year,Kiril Petkov'scoalition 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[24] until June 2022 - the fall ofPetkov's government.
| No. | Name | Portrait | Term of office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tsvetan Tsvetanov (1965–) |  | 3 December 2006 | 10 January 2010 |
| 2 | Boyko Borisov (1959–) |  | 10 January 2010 | Incumbent |
| No. | Name | Portrait | National Assembly | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Krasimir Velchev (1951–) | .png) | 41st | |
| 2 | Boyko Borisov (1959–) |  | 42nd | |
| 3 | Tsvetan Tsvetanov (1965–) |  | 43rd | |
| 4 | Daniela Daritkova (1966–) | .png) | 44th | |
| 5 | Desislava Atanasova (1978–) |  | 45th | |
| 46th | ||||
| 47th | ||||
| 48th | ||||
| 49th | ||||
| 6 | Boyko Borisov (1959–) | | 49th | |
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | 1,678,583 | 39.72 (#1) | 116 / 240 | New | Minority |
| 2013 | 1,081,605 | 30.55 (#1) | 97 / 240 |  19 | Opposition |
| 2014 | 1,072,491 | 32.67 (#1) | 84 / 240 | 13 | Coalition |
| 2017 | 1,147,283 | 32.65 (#1) | 95 / 240 |  11 | Coalition |
| Apr 2021[a] | 837,707 | 25.80 (#1) | 73 / 240 | 22 | Snap election |
| Jul 2021[a] | 642,165 | 23.21 (#2) | 60 / 240 | 13 | Snap election |
| Nov 2021[a] | 596,456 | 22.44 (#2) | 57 / 240 | 3 | Opposition |
| 2022[a] | 634,627 | 24.48 (#1) | 64 / 240 | 7 | Snap election |
| 2023[a] | 669,924 | 25.39 (#1) | 67 / 240 | 3 | Coalition |
| Jun 2024[a] | 530,658 | 23.99 (#1) | 64 / 240 | 3 | Snap election |
| Oct 2024[a] | 642,973 | 25.52 (#1) | 68 / 240 | 4 | Coalition |
| 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 |
| Election | List leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Dushana Zdravkova | 420,001 | 21.68 (#1) | 5 / 18 | New | EPP-ED |
| 2009 | Rumiana Jeleva | 627,693 | 24.36 (#1) | 5 / 18 |  0 | EPP |
| 2014 | Tomislav Donchev | 680,838 | 30.40 (#1) | 6 / 17 | 1 | |
| 2019[a] | Mariya Gabriel | 607,194 | 30.13 (#1) | 6 / 17 | 0 | |
| 2024[a] | Rosen Zhelyazkov | 474,059 | 23.55 (#1) | 5 / 17 | 1 |
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