In Bulgaria President Georgi Parvanov has founded a new political movement. Novinite reports that it is called Alternative for Bulgarian Revival (or ABV, the first three letters of the Bulgarian alphabet). Parvenov is a former member of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and this is the affiliation that is given to him by worldstatesmen.org.

The creation of the new movement is controversial for two reasons. Firstly, Art. 95 (2) of the Bulgarian constitution states: “The President and the Vice President shall not serve as Members of the National Assembly or engage in any other state, public or economic activity, nor shall they participate in the leadership of any political party”. So, the president must, officially, be non-partisan. Secondly, Parvenov was a member of the BSP and even though BSP representatives were present at the launch of the movement, there is a clear sense in which the ABV will transform into a political party once Parvenov’s term ends in 2012. Therefore, it will be a rival to the BSP.

Obviously, defining the ABV as a movement and not a political party is designed to circumvent the constitutional issue. However, it has already provoked the nationalist Ataka party to call for the president to be impeached. The ruing GERB party will consider the issue later this week. A previous impeachment vote failed earlier this year.