{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2020}} {{Infobox political party | name = Republicans for Bulgaria | native_name = {{Nobold|Републиканци за България}} | native_name_lang = | logo = Republicans for Bulgaria logo.svg | colorcode = {{party color|Republicans for Bulgaria}} | leader = Tsvetan Tsvetanov<ref name=":2" /> | founder = Tsvetan Tsvetanov | founded = {{Start date|2020|10|27|df=y}}<ref name ="foundation">{{cite web |title="Републиканци за България" на Цветанов вече е регистрирана партия |url=https://btvnovinite.bg/bulgaria/republikanci-za-balgarija-veche-e-registrirana-partija.html |website=bTV novinite |accessdate=4 November 2020}}</ref> | split = GERB<ref name ="foundation" /> | headquarters = Sofia | membership_year = 2020 | membership = 5,717<ref name="membership">{{cite web |title="Републиканци за България" ще участват самостоятелно в предстоящите избори |url=https://www.vesti.bg/bulgaria/republikanci-za-bylgariia-shte-uchastvat-samostoiatelno-vizborite--6116094 |website=Vesti.bg |accessdate=4 November 2020}}</ref> | ideology = {{plainlist| * Conservatism * Economic liberalism * Populism * E-democracy * Pro-Europeanism<ref name="position" /> * Atlanticism<ref name="position" /> }} | position = Centre-right<ref name="position">{{cite web |title=Цветан Цветанов оглави "Републиканци за България", заместник е Павел Вълнев |url=https://bnr.bg/post/101347014 |website=БНР |accessdate=4 November 2020}}</ref> | colors = Deep Blue | seats1_title = National Assembly | seats1 = {{Infobox political party/seats|0|240|hex={{party color|Republicans for Bulgaria}}}} | seats2_title = European Parliament | seats2 = {{Infobox political party/seats|0|17|hex={{party color|Republicans for Bulgaria}}}} | national = Free Voters (2024) | flag = | website = {{URL|republikanci.bg}} | country = Bulgaria }} '''Republicans for Bulgaria''' ({{langx|bg|Републиканци за България|translit=Republikantsi za Balgariya}}) is a Bulgarian political party formed as a split from GERB by Tsvetan Tsvetanov, formerly the second most senior official in the ruling GERB party, after he was demoted from his positions by GERB leader and Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=26 September 2020|title=Цветанов 2.0: Бившият втори става първи в партията си "Републиканци за България"|url=https://www.mediapool.bg/tsvetanov-20-bivshiyat-vtori-stava-parvi-v-partiyata-si-republikantsi-za-bulgaria-news312442.html|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=|website=Mediapool}}</ref> The party's abbreviation (RB) is an allusion to the defunct rightist Reformist Bloc coalition.<ref name=":0" />
== Identity == The party's core was formed primarily from former GERB, and to a lesser extent - also former DSB and SDS members. It officially positioned itself in the centre-right political space, seeing centrist and rightist parties as potential partners.<ref name ="position" /> Despite the party's origins as a splinter movement, its leader has generally refused to rule out a potential future coalition government between his old and new parties.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Зехирова|first=Златина|date=2020-09-20|title=Кой кой е в партията на Цветан Цветанов и възможна ли е коалиция с ГЕРБ|url=https://www.dnevnik.bg/politika/2020/09/20/4116370_koi_koi_e_v_partiiata_na_cvetan_cvetanov_i_vuzmojna_li/|access-date=2020-11-04|website=Dnevnik|language=bg}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite web|title=Is There a Political Future for the "reborn republican" Tsvetanov?|url=https://www.banker.bg/headlines/read/is-there-a-political-future-for-the-reborn-republican-tsvetanov|access-date=2020-11-04|website=www.banker.bg}}</ref>
Tsvetanov stated that the party's goal was to become an "insurmountable factor in Bulgarian politics and a guarantor of the Euro-atlantic direction of development".<ref name ="position" /> As such, it became one of the staunchest supporters of Bulgarian membership in NATO.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Welle (www.dw.com)|first=Deutsche|title=ГЕРБ-2: Какво точно може Цветан Цветанов {{!}} DW {{!}} 30.09.2020|url=https://www.dw.com/bg/%D0%B3%D0%B5%D1%80%D0%B1-2-%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BA%D0%B2%D0%BE-%D1%82%D0%BE%D1%87%D0%BD%D0%BE-%D0%BC%D0%BE%D0%B6%D0%B5-%D1%86%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BD-%D1%86%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2/a-55101352|access-date=2020-11-04|website=DW.COM|language=bg-BG}}</ref>
== Analysis == According to Bulgarian financial publication "Kapital", Republicans for Bulgaria had the potential to undermine and siphon support from GERB "from below" due to the fact that Tsvetanov had deep connections with several local GERB chapters he helped build, but also that the party was incapable of attracting leftist, centrist or liberal voters. At the same time, the party could potentially also siphon votes from other rightist parties such as the SDS, primarily from "people with a more staunchly euro-atlantic, Russophobic and rightist sentiment". The publication stated that GERB was primarily supported by people who had "tied their business, professional and personal interests to the party" and Tsvetanov's new party could potentially threaten GERB if it could offer those supporters similar arrangements within itself.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Capital.bg|title=Заплаха ли е за ГЕРБ новата партия на Цветанов|url=https://www.capital.bg/politika_i_ikonomika/bulgaria/2020/09/24/4118352_zaplaha_li_e_za_gerb_novata_partiia_na_cvetanov/|access-date=2020-11-04|website=www.capital.bg|language=bg}}</ref>
According to Deutsche Welle, Republicans for Bulgaria represented a "GERB-2" and was based not on Euro-atlanticist values, but on promises of power and "personal material prosperity" to its members, as well as the loyalty of many of its cadres to Tsvetanov himself. Nevertheless, the publication noted that the party was "cutting of living flesh" from GERB by taking over not only individual GERB members, but entire leading GERB party structures in major cities and towns in Bulgaria.<ref name=":1" />
GERB official and Deputy Prime Minister Tomislav Donchev acknowledged that party members were being siphoned away to the new Republicans for Bulgaria, but stated that this would not play in the latter's favour, as he opined that "you can take part of the membership, but not from the support base".<ref name=":2" />
== Election results == At its formation, the party's program stated that "at minimum" it would enter into Bulgarian parliament with a "pretty large parliamentary group", adding that the party was aiming for a far higher result than the 4% electoral threshold required by Bulgarian law for entry into the National Assembly.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Цветанов внесе документите на "Републиканци за България"|url=https://nova.bg/news/view/2020/10/12/302155/%D1%86%D0%B2%D0%B5%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%BE%D0%B2-%D0%B2%D0%BD%D0%B5%D1%81%D0%B5-%D0%B4%D0%BE%D0%BA%D1%83%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B5-%D0%BD%D0%B0-%D1%80%D0%B5%D0%BF%D1%83%D0%B1%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%86%D0%B8-%D0%B7%D0%B0-%D0%B1%D1%8A%D0%BB%D0%B3%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8%D1%8F/|access-date=2020-11-04|website=nova.bg|language=bulgarian}}</ref> Tsvetanov predicted that the party would match GERB's electoral result and gather at least around 500,000 votes in the April 2021 Bulgarian parliamentary election.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Партията на Цветанов ще е "Републиканци за България". Той поиска оставка на Борисов, но не и на Гешев|url=https://www.svobodnaevropa.bg/a/републиканци-за-българия-цветанов-обяви-името-на-партията-си-поиска-оставка-на-борисов/30781712.html|access-date=2020-11-04|website=Свободна Европа|language=bg}}</ref> These goals were met with strong scepticism by Bulgarian sociologists and pollsters, which stated that less than 1% of Bulgarian voters intended to vote for the party in October 2020 and that it had mostly failed at attracting sympathizers outside of its base core.<ref>{{Cite web|title="Тренд": 5+2 партии в следващия парламент (ВИДЕО) - България|url=https://dariknews.bg/novini/bylgariia/trend-52-partii-v-sledvashtiia-parlament-video-2244971|access-date=2020-11-04|website=dariknews.bg|language=bg}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=И "Тренд" измери паритет между ГЕРБ и БСП|url=https://bnr.bg/plovdiv/post/101359175/i-trend-izmeri-paritet-mejdu-gerb-i-bsp|access-date=2020-11-04|website=bnr.bg|language=bg}}</ref><ref name=":3" />
The party failed to enter the assembly, gaining only 1.31% of the popular vote. In the second election of that year, it fared even worse, managing to obtain only 0.31% of the vote. After the party failed to enter the National Assembly twice during the first two parliamentary elections in 2021, Tsvetanov blamed an "inability to present the [party] program before the people during the campaign" and stated that he would try with "shorter messages".<ref>{{Cite web|date=21 May 2021|title=Цветанов посочи причината за провала си на изборите|url=https://blitz.bg/politika/tsvetanov-posochi-prichinata-za-provala-si-na-izborite_news819372.html|website=Blitz|language=bg}}</ref>
By September, Tsvetanov announced that his party was looking for coalition partners to contest the 2021 Bulgarian general election together with.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Цветанов търси с кого да се коалира за изборите|url=https://www.mediapool.bg/tsvetanov-tarsi-s-kogo-da-se-koalira-za-izborite-news326725.html|access-date=2021-11-21|website=Mediapool.bg|language=bg-BG}}</ref> Eventually, he reached an agreement with the political formation around Petar Moskov, former DSB member and also an ex-minister in Borisov's former cabinet. The two formed the ''National Union of the Right'', a right-wing, conservative and anti-communist political movement seeking to "go back to the roots of the Bulgarian right".<ref>{{Cite web|title=Цветан Цветанов и Петър Москов отиват на избори в коалиция НОД|url=https://www.mediapool.bg/tsvetan-tsvetanov-i-petar-moskov-otivat-na-izbori-v-koalitsiya-nod-news326882.html|access-date=2021-11-21|website=Mediapool.bg|language=bg-BG}}</ref> The coalition only gained 0.43% of the popular vote and as such it also failed to enter into the Bulgarian parliament.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Резултати :: Избори за президент и вицепрезидент и народни представители 14 ноември 2021|url=https://results.cik.bg/pvrns2021/tur1/rezultati/|access-date=2021-11-21|website=results.cik.bg}}</ref> RzB did not join the Blue Bulgaria alliance but instead formed "Free Voters" with the Green Union and Union of Free Democrats for the October 2024 election.
===National Assembly=== {| class="wikitable" style="text-align:right" |- ! Election ! Leader ! Votes ! % ! Seats ! +/– ! Government |- ! Apr 2021 | rowspan=3 | Tsvetan Tsvetanov | 42,057 | 1.30 (#11) | {{Composition bar|0|240|hex={{party color|Republicans for Bulgaria}}}} | New | {{no|Extra-parliamentary}} |- ! Jul 2021 | 8,546 | 0.31 (#12) | {{Composition bar|0|240|hex={{party color|Republicans for Bulgaria}}}} | {{steady}} 0 | {{no|Extra-parliamentary}} |- ! Nov 2021{{efn|Run as part of the National Union of the Right coalition (KOD, BZNS, BDF and RzB).}} | 11,239 | 0.42 (#14) | {{Composition bar|0|240|hex={{party color|Republicans for Bulgaria}}}} | {{steady}} 0 | {{no|Extra-parliamentary}} |- ! 2022 | colspan=3 align=center| ''Did not contest'' | {{Composition bar|0|240|hex={{party color|Republicans for Bulgaria}}}} | {{steady}} 0 | {{no|Extra-parliamentary}} |- ! 2023 | colspan=3 align=center| ''Did not contest'' | {{Composition bar|0|240|hex={{party color|Republicans for Bulgaria}}}} | {{steady}} 0 | {{no|Extra-parliamentary}} |- ! Jun 2024 | colspan=3 align=center| ''Did not contest'' | {{Composition bar|0|240|hex={{party color|Republicans for Bulgaria}}}} | {{steady}} 0 | {{no|Extra-parliamentary}} |- ! Oct 2024{{efn|Run as part of the Free Voters coalition (ZS, RzB and SSD).}} | Tsvetan Tsvetanov | 6,293 | 0.25 (#15) | {{Composition bar|0|240|hex={{party color|Republicans for Bulgaria}}}} | {{steady}} 0 | {{no|Extra-parliamentary}} |} {{Notelist}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Bulgarian political parties}}
Category:Political parties established in 2020 Category:2020 establishments in Bulgaria Category:Conservative parties in Bulgaria Category:Populist parties Category:Pro-European political parties in Bulgaria