BULGARIAN PRESIDENT CALLS FOR PRESIDENTIAL REPUBLIC

Zhelyu Zhelev in a televised address on 13 July said the present parliamentary system should be transformed into a presidential one, which he called a "more adequate form of management," Standart reported on 15 July. Zhelev argued that because the president's powers are now limited, Bulgaria might become the only former communist country whose transition to democracy and a market economy fails. He blamed the parliamentary system for "lawlessness, anarchy, insecurity, and corruption," saying the division of powers in Bulgaria had become a "division of irresponsibility." He also singled out Russia as a country that had made greater progress on reforms despite launching them later than Bulgaria. Politicians from all major political parties rejected Zhelev's call, which he had first made in late May.