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On July 5, 2001 the Center for the Study of
Democracy along with the Bulgarian Association of Sociologists
jointly organized a seminar entitled "Parliamentary Elections 2001
- Forecasts and Results". The seminar discussions analyzed and
interpreted the outcome of 2001 Parliamentary elections and
outlined both the major dimensions of the post election situation
and strategies for the future development of Bulgaria.
The main actors in the sociological community in
Bulgaria participated the seminar. Among these participants were
academics from "St. Climent of Ohrid" Sofia University, the
University of National and World Economy, "Paisii Hilendarski"
Plovdiv University, "Neofit Rilski" Blagoevgrad University.
Representatives from research institutes (the Institute of
Sociology, the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences) and research agencies
(Vitosha Research, BBSS Gallup, MBMD Ltd., Sova-Harris, Alpha
Research, Mediana, ASSA-M Ltd., Gfk Bulgaria, NPOC) also
participated in the seminar.
Prof. Atanas Atanasov of the Institute of
Sociology to the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, opened the first
session with a report on "Parliamentary Elections 2001: Results and
Forecasts". This report emphasized the strengths and limitations of
the sociological instruments used to study the pre-election
situation and presented comparative analyses of the forecast
results of different research agencies. Mr. Kancho Stoychev of
Gallup-Bulgaria described the socio-demographic structure of the
electorate represented by the political parties in the Bulgarian
Parliament. Prof. Georgi Dimitrov from Sofia University in his
report entitled "The 2001 parliamentary election results and
possible scripts for the development of the country" detailed the
structural societal logic of the last political event and offered
several scenarios for the future development of Bulgaria.
The second session focused on the particular
dimensions of the post-electoral situation and the options and
risks facing the Bulgarian society. Prof. H. Fotev, A. Raychev, D.
Deyanov, N. Tilkidzhiev, D.Dimitrov, M. Yanova, A. Todorov, P.
Kabakchieva, T. Tomov, and A. Galabov made statements. Seminar
participants formulated the following conclusion, despite
substantial differences in opinions, concerning the current and
long-term social processes: after Parliamentary Elections 2001 the
Bulgarian society faces a new political situation characterized by
a high level of openness to the future.
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