PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS OF 1994 AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE BULGARIAN PARTY SYSTEM

In the Bulgarian party system since the first free elections of 1990 t he coalition of formations opposed to communism - the Union of Democra tic Forces (UDF) - was held together by the continuing strength of its opponent, the post-communist Socialist Party, yielding a case of dela yed differentiation which sets Bulgaria off from the east-central Euro pean countries to its north. The elections of 1994 and their sequel sa w the beginning of the end of the UDF's cohesion, but at the same time marked its consolidation as a party. Meanwhile the ideological transf ormation of the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the ascendancy of a new generation of young, pragmatically orientated politicians entrenched t he postcommunist party in the evolving party system. In the political space between these two poles, a place seems assured for the party of the Turkish minority, whilst a centre-right coalition of the historica l Democratic Party with the Agrarians emerged from the elections bette r placed than its closest rival, the centre-left Democratic Alternativ e for the Republic.