Petar Stoyanov

His Excellency Petar Stefanov Stoyanov Петър Стефанов Стоянов
3rd President of Bulgaria
In office 22 January 1997 – 22 January 2002
Prime Minister	Zhan Videnov Stefan Sofiyanski (Acting) Ivan Kostov Simeon Sakskoburggotski
Vice President	Todor Kavaldzhiev
Preceded by	Zhelyu Zhelev
Succeeded by	Georgi Parvanov
Personal details
Born	(1952-05-25) 25 May 1952 Plovdiv, Bulgaria
Citizenship	Bulgarian
Political party	Union of Democratic Forces
Spouse(s)	Antonina Stoyanova
Children	Stefan Fany

Petar Stefanov Stoyanov (Bulgarian: Петър Стефанов Стоянов) (born May 25, 1952) is a Bulgarian politician who was President of Bulgaria from 1997 to 2002.^[1] He was elected as a candidate of the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF). He did not succeed in the next presidential elections and after leaving office refrained from politics for a while but later became an MP in 2005 and was Chairman of UDF from October 1, 2005 to May 22, 2007.

Biography

Stoyanov was born on May 25, 1952, in Plovdiv, Bulgaria.^[2] After graduating from secondary school, Stoyanov entered the Saint Kliment Ohridski University of Sofia law faculty where he graduated with honors in 1976.^[3] He practiced civil law in Plovdiv through the next fifteen years.^[3] Stoyanov speaks also English and German in addition to his mother tongue Bulgarian.^[2]

Quickly after the political changes in Bulgaria at the end of 1989 from communism to democratic rule Stoyanov embarked on a political career (1990), co-founding and chairing a Democracy Club in Plovdiv. Later in the same year, he became spokesman of the Plovdiv Coordinating Council of the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF), a new Bulgarian coalitional opposition to the former ruling political parties (BKP and BZNS).^[3]

When in 1991 UDF formed first non-communist government after the political changes in Bulgaria, President Stoyanov served as Deputy Minister of Justice. In 1993 UDF government fell out of power due to parliamentary voting of approval that did not reach enough votes. Thenafter, in May 1993, Stoyanov became a President of the UDF Legal Council.

In 1994 he was elected Member of Parliament and he was Deputy Chairman of the UDF Parliamentary Group, also Deputy Chairman of the Parliamentary Commission on Youth, Sports, and Tourism. In 1995 he was Deputy Chairman of UDF responsible for domestic policy.^[3]

President

In 1 June 1996 Petar Stoyanov won the primaries with 66% of the 870 000 votes cast and was nominated Presidential Candidate of the UDF. In the presidential elections he received more votes than the socialist candidate Ivan Marazov and George Ganchev, founder and leader of Bulgarian Business Bloc, in the first round. He then defeated Marazov in a runoff by winning 59,73% of the votes cast.^[3] He was elected President of Bulgaria with the support of diverse opposition parties in 3 November 1996.

In 19 January 1997 he was sworn in President of the Republic and in 22 January 1997 stepped into office. In January 1997 protests ensued in response to the worsening economics in Bulgaria resulting by the immature government of Jean Videnov which was also not internationally supported and accepted (esp. in the Western countries). President Stoyanov utilized his constitutional authority and appointed functionary government with PM Stefan Sofianski. Early elections were also called in which UDF-led coalition won an absolute majority in Parliament.^[3]

Elections for president in 2001

In 2001 after showing a compromate for Bogomil Bonev in an open debate broadcast in the National television Stoyanov's public support dropped and subsequently he lost the presidential elections. In the first round of the 2001 voting he finished in second place, as the socialist candidate Georgi Parvanov received 36.3%, Stoyanov received 34.9% and Bogomil Bonev received 19.2%. Stoyanov lost the runoff to Parvanov 46.7% to 53.3%. After leaving office he refrained from media attention for some time.

Later political career

September 2004 Appointed Special Envoy for Moldova of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office.

In 2005 Stoyanov returned to active politics. He was elected member of the 40th National Assembly, he was member of European Integration Committee and member of State Administration Affairs Committee. Because of UDF's inadequate result at these elections (8.4% of the popular vote, and 20 out of 240 seats) he blamed rigorously the party leader Nadezhda Mihailova criticizing her policy. On October 1, 2005 the UDF National Conference elected him as a Chairman.

In May 20, 2007 at the first Bulgarian elections for EU Parliament Stoyanov - who led UDF list - failed to get elected since UDF fell 1% short of the 5.66% electoral threshold. This resulted in his resignation from the chairmanship of the Union of Democratic Forces in 22 May 2007.

Other

Petar Stoyanov serves as an Honorary Co-Chair for the World Justice Project. The World Justice Project works to lead a global, multidisciplinary effort to strengthen the Rule of Law for the development of communities of opportunity and equity. In 2002, as a fellow of The German Marshall Fund, Petar Stoyanov delivered lectures in the USA at John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, New York University, American Bar Association (Washington, DC) and other universities.^[2]

Membership

Petar Stoyanov is member of the Bulgarian Internet Society since 2000, and has been regular Internet user.

Family

He was married to Antonina Stoyanova and has a daughter Fany (born 1990) and a son Stefan (born 1979).^[3] His younger brother, Emil Stoyanov, is a former MEP.^[4]

Honours and awards

•  Slovakia : Grand Cross (or 1st Class) of the Order of the White Double Cross (1997)^[5]
•  Romania : Grand Cross with Sash of the Order of the Star of Romania (1998)
•  Austria : Grand Star of the Decoration of Honour for Services to the Republic of Austria (1999) ^[6]
•  Denmark : Knight of the Order of the Elephant (2000)

References

External links

• Personal website of Petar Stoyanov

v t e Heads of state of Bulgaria (since 1946) People's Republic of Bulgaria Kolarov Naichev Damyanov Ganev Traikov Zhivkov Mladenov Republic of Bulgaria Mladenov Zhelev Stoyanov Parvanov Plevneliev