If July 4 is the national holiday of the USA, then why is July 12 not a national holiday in Bulgaria?
On this date in 1991, the 7th Grand National Assembly adopted the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria with the signatures of 309 deputies, 4 of whom signed later.
The Constitution establishes the basic principles on which the political system of society is built - political pluralism, separation of powers into legislative, executive and judicial. It defines the most important state bodies: the National Assembly, the Council of Ministers, the President, the judiciary and local government bodies. It sets out the principles of the democratic electoral system - universal, equal and direct suffrage by secret ballot, defines the forms of ownership - private and public (state and municipal), the fundamental rights and freedoms of citizens and the fundamental obligations of citizens, the state coat of arms and seal, the anthem, the flag and the capital of Bulgaria. This does not prevent it from being changed in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2015.
The Seventh Grand National Assembly was convened after the overthrow of Todor Zhivkov from power on November 10, 1989 and the agreements reached at the National Round Table. The elections for it were the first free and democratic elections in the country, held after the September 9th Coup.
The Grand National Assembly began work on July 10, 1990 in a tense atmosphere. Suspicions of manipulation of the election results caused strong unrest in non-communist circles.
On April 4, 1991 44 blue deputies want the VNA to be dissolved, concerned about the increased unemployment and the lack of fresh laws. Soon after, on April 20, the report of the inquiry commission “Tambuev“ was released and on April 23, the deputies debated the files, and Stefan Savov, Georgi Markov, Yordan Vassilev and Zlatka Ruseva announced that they were leaving the VNA. On April 25, 1991, Ilich Tsvetkov submitted a proposal for the self-dissolution of the VNA. He was supported by Alexander Chirkov, Stoyan Ganev, Nikolay Slatinski, Edvin Sugarev, Vili Tsankov, Elenko Bozhkov, Yanko Yankov.
On May 14, 1991, 39 deputies left the parliament with a declaration in which, in addition to the self-dissolution of the VNA and elections in mid-July, they also wanted the BSP to return the money it had taken from the budget. On May 19, the UDF held a national conference, at which those who left the parliament took the lead. This was repeated at the third national conference of the UDF - June 22, 1991, at which the UDF was restructured as a “national movement“. At the end of June, the BZNS “Nikola Petkov“ of Milan Drenchev also left the VNA.
Despite the protest of the 39th, on July 12, 1991, the Constitution of the Republic of Bulgaria was adopted. It imposes a state system based on the separation of powers and introduces the institution of a sole head of state - the president. The convening of a Grand National Assembly (400 members of parliament) is envisaged in cases where the form of state government and structure, as well as the country's constitution, are changed. The ordinary National Assembly is elected for a term of 4 years and 240 members of parliament participate in it. The institution of the Constitutional Court is introduced, whose main task is to guarantee the supremacy and compliance with the Basic Law of the Republic.
After voting on the constitution, the Seventh Great National Assembly assumes the function of an ordinary national assembly - until October 2, 1991, when it dissolves itself.