It is already clear - the split DPS will appear with two registrations in the upcoming early parliamentary elections and will certainly confuse its electorate. There is a furious race between the two groups for ownership of the "DPS" brand, and then they will think about what will be explained to the voter.
The two factions of the until recently monolithic DPS: DPS-Dogan and DPS-Peevski have already collected the necessary 2,500 signatures to go before the CEC, Epicenter BG learned.
On August 12, 2024, an application was submitted to the patent office for the registration of the DPS trademark (DPS Movement for Rights and Freedoms) with the two blue branches, but with an unpublished applicant.
This looks like some kind of insurance, since a month before on 12.07.2024 the same application was submitted, but for the applicant/owner and user it was written - "DPS MOVEMENT FOR RIGHTS AND FREEDOMS" political organization, BG, with headquarters: Sofia, 1301, Vazrazhdane district, “Alexander Stamboliyski" No. 45A. The proxy Silvia Hristova Todorova is also mentioned.
Dogan's team is not sure that they will be able to fight for the authentic "DPS" and that is why they make a second signature for the registration of the coalition "Democracy, rights and freedoms - DPS",
The group around Delyan Peevski also collects two signatures - for the authentic DPS and for the DPS-"Movement for Rights and Freedoms-New Beginning".
Which of all DPS will register first with the CEC is not clear.
Both Dogan and Peevski have a very short deadline until September 11, in which they must be ready with all the documents for the elections.
When registering an independent party to vote for the 51 National Assembly
The Electoral Code requires several documents from them, including:
- name of the party for the ballot
- certificate of current legal status as of the date of scheduling the elections (i.e. as of August 27)
- sample of the seal of the party
- a list of names, social security number and signatures of no less than 2,500 voters supporting the registration.
The certificate for the current state of the DPS before the CEC should show that it has two chairmen - Delyan Peevski and Jevdet Chakarov. The meeting of the so-called The Central Operations Bureau in "Rosenets" at which Dogan announced that he was expelling Peevski from the party was held on August 27, a few hours after the issuance of the presidential decree to schedule the elections.
According to the court registration of DPS at this time, Peevski and Chakarov represent the Movement "together and separately", i.e. each of them has a legitimate right to submit the registration papers to the CEC.
There can be a change in this only when the Sofia City Court enters something different in the registration file of the DPS.
The DPS-Dogan wing stated that the decision of the Central Committee, which was made at the will of the honorary chairman, although it did not have the quorum required by the Statute, will be submitted for registration in the SGS. Peevski is expected to appeal.
At the time of the issuance of the decree of the head of state, Delyan Peevski is the legitimate chairman of the PG of the DPS. At the same time, according to the statute, he shares power over the party organization jointly and separately with Jevdet Chakarov.
The CEC will face a test if both groups want to insert the acronym "DPS" for the sake of future coalitions.
Each of the two - Peevski and Chakarov - will have the right to this and the one who is faster will succeed, as well as the one who manages to procure all the registration documents that the CEC requires. If both submit documents for registration - the CEC is the authority that will decide who to accept as regular and who to register. Decisions of the CEC can be appealed through the Supreme Court, which will make a final decision within three days. There have been similar cases in the past - and the general principle that has been applied and enforced as a practice is first in time is first in law.
"Authority for state bodies is what is entered in the court register – the last entered changes are effective there. Currently, they say that the DPS has two presidents, each of whom can independently represent the DPS. Registration with the CEC is most important for both disputing parties. However, the PG of the DPS is now solely represented by Peevski, this is entered in the registers of the National Assembly", explained lawyer Petar Slavov, a former deputy.
"You cannot have the same abbreviations with a continuation registered for the elections, for example "DPS – Dogan", he emphasized.
The law on political parties prohibits the registration of political organizations whose name repeats the name or abbreviation of another party. The addition of words, letters, numbers, numbers or other characters in an attempt to create a "poison double" is also prohibited.
The Electoral Code prohibits their name or abbreviation from repeating that of a registered party that does not participate in the relevant coalition.
It is also forbidden to repeat the name or abbreviation of an existing parliamentary group without the permission of its leadership.
This puts both rival wings of the DPS in a difficult situation.
The situation is so complicated that there is a real danger that DPS will not appear in elections for the first time since 1990.
The decision will be in the hands of the Supreme Administrative Court, which always before an election becomes the final political arbiter. Lawyer Mihail Ekimdzhiev "predicted" the outcome of the dispute before the Supreme Court in favor of Delyan Peevski even before a hypothetical case was initiated.
Regarding the "exclusion" of the chairman Delyan Peevski The Statute of the DPS is categorical. And precisely in Art. 6, which the Honorable Chairman Dr. Dogan advises us to read, where it is explicitly mentioned that "expulsion is decided by the structure to which the respective member belongs, or by a “higher authority”.
CSO first excluded Peevski and his associates as members of the party, and then released Peevski as chairman of DPS, reads the press release of DPS-Dogan.
The CSO can decide to exclude, but the Central Council must confirm it. And DPS-Dogan cannot secure a majority of 2/3 in the council, and therefore has not convened it yet.
The National Conference is the only body that can appoint a party chairman, and lawyers are adamant that it is the only one that can remove him. The convening of such a conference, which by statute would give a more certain answer whether Peevski remains at the head of the DPS, is not possible before the elections. No time for that.
For the role of honorary leader in the Statute, there is one article 9a, which consists of three positions. (See below) They say - in black and white - only that he embodies the party's values and strategic goals. According to the interpretation of DPS-Dogan, this means that “his decisions bind all bodies and structures”. This is not recorded anywhere in plain text.
There is also no text according to which the honorary chairman has the right to single-handedly exclude members of the party.
It is recorded that the Honorary Chairman can convene the Central Committee and the Central Committee, but nowhere is it recorded that his will is placed above the leadership boundaries of the party, the Central Committee, nor that a resignation requested by him acts as a guillotine on the relevant member of the party, as explained by Dogan's group.
This is what is written in Article 9a of the DPS Statute:
(1) The founder and first chairman of the DPS is the Honorary Chairman of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms.
(2) The honorary chairman of the DPS personifies and expresses the timeless values and strategic goals of the party.
(3) The honorary chairman of the DPS may convene meetings of the Central Council, the Central Operational Bureau and the Central Control Commission.