2013 Buckinghamshire County Council election, Ward Results, Aston Clinton and Bierton
Bill Chapple previously served as councillor for Aston Clinton prior to the boundaries being changed before this set of elections.


2013 Buckinghamshire County Council election, Ward Results, Aylesbury North
Raj Khan previously served as councillor for Aylesbury East prior to the boundaries being changed before this set of elections.


2013 Buckinghamshire County Council election, Ward Results, Aylesbury North West
Niknam Hussain previously served as councillor for Aylesbury North prior to the boundaries being changed before this set of elections.


2013 Buckinghamshire County Council election, Ward Results, Aylesbury South East
Brian Roberts previously served as councillor for Aylesbury South prior to the boundaries being changed before this set of elections.


2013 Buckinghamshire County Council election, Ward Results, Aylesbury South West
Freda Roberts previously served as councillor for Aylesbury West prior to the boundaries being changed before this set of elections.


2013 Buckinghamshire County Council election, Ward Results, Bernwood
Margaret Aston previously served as councillor for Haddenham prior to the boundaries being changed before this set of elections.


2013 Buckinghamshire County Council election, Ward Results, Booker, Cressex & Castlefield
Zahir Mohammed previously served as councillor for Downley, Disraeli, Oakridge & Castlefield prior to the boundaries being changed before this set of elections.


2013 Buckinghamshire County Council election, Ward Results, Chalfont St Giles
Timothy Butcher previously served as councillor for The Chalfonts & Seer Green prior to the boundaries being changed before this set of elections.


2013 Buckinghamshire County Council election, Ward Results, Chesham
Mohmammad Bhatti previously served as Conservative councillor for Chesham East prior to the boundaries being changed before this set of elections.


2013 Buckinghamshire County Council election, Ward Results, Cliveden
Dev Dhillon previously served as councillor for Taplow, Dorney & Lent Rise prior to the boundaries being changed before this set of elections.


2013 Buckinghamshire County Council election, Ward Results, Denham
Roger Reed previously served as councillor for Gerards Cross & Denham North prior to the boundaries being changed before this set of elections.


2013 Buckinghamshire County Council election, Ward Results, Downley
Wendy Mallen previously served as councillor for Downley, Disraeli, Oakridge & Castleford prior to the boundaries being changed before this set of elections.


2013 Buckinghamshire County Council election, Ward Results, Farnham Common & Burnham Beeches
Lin Hazell previously served as councillor for Burnham Beeches prior to the boundaries being changed before this set of elections.


2013 Buckinghamshire County Council election, Ward Results, Flackwell Heath, Little Marlow & Marlow South East
David Watson previously served as councillor for Thames prior to the boundaries being changed before this set of elections.


2013 Buckinghamshire County Council election, Ward Results, Gerrards Cross
Peter Hardy previously served as councillor for Bulstrode prior to the boundaries being changed before this set of elections.


2013 Buckinghamshire County Council election, Ward Results, Little Chalfont & Amersham Common
Martin Tett previously served as councillor for The Chalfonts & Seer Green prior to the boundaries being changed before this set of elections.


2013 Buckinghamshire County Council election, Ward Results, Penn Wood & Old Amersham
David Schofield previously served as councillor for Penn, Coleshill & Holmer Green prior to the boundaries being changed before this set of elections.


2013 Buckinghamshire County Council election, Ward Results, Ridgeway East
David Carroll previously served as councillor for Hazlemere prior to the boundaries being changed before this set of elections.


2013 Buckinghamshire County Council election, Ward Results, Ridgeway West
Carl Etholen previously served as councillor for The Risborough prior to the boundaries being changed before this set of elections.


2013 Buckinghamshire County Council election, Ward Results, Ryemead & Micklefield
Julia Wassell previously served as councillor for Bowerdean, Micklefield & Totteridge prior to the boundaries being changed before this set of elections.


2013 Buckinghamshire County Council election, Ward Results, Stoke Poges & Wexham
Trevor Egleton previously served as councillor for Stoke Poges & Farnham Common prior to the boundaries being changed before this set of elections.


2013 Buckinghamshire County Council election, Ward Results, The Wooburns, Bourne End & Hedsor
Michael Appleyard previously served as councillor for Thames prior to the boundaries being changed before this set of elections.


2013 Buckinghamshire County Council election, Ward Results, Totteridge & Bowerdean
Chaudhary Ditta previously served as councillor for Bowerdean, Micklefield & Totteridge prior to the boundaries being changed before this set of elections.


2013 Buckinghamshire County Council election, Ward Results, Tylers Green & Loudwater
David Shakespeare previously served as councillor for Ryemead, Tylers Green & Loudwater prior to the boundaries being changed before this set of elections.


2013 Bucknell Bison football team
The 2013 Bucknell Bison football team represented Bucknell University in the 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach Joe Susan and played their home games at Christy Mathewson–Memorial Stadium. They were a member of the Patriot League. They finished the season 6–5, 3–2 in Patriot League play to finish in a three way tie for second place.


2013 Budapest Grand Prix
The 2013 Budapest Grand Prix was a women's tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 19th edition of the Budapest Grand Prix, an International-level tournament on the 2013 WTA Tour. It took place at the Római Tennis Academy in Budapest, Hungary, from 8 to 14 July 2013. The organisers decided to hold the tournament despite the recent floods in Hungary, but canceled the qualifying rounds (the top four alternates entered the main draw automatically) and reduced the doubles draw from 16 teams to eight.


2013 Budapest Grand Prix, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received wildcards into the singles main draw:


2013 Budapest Grand Prix, Singles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following players received entry from the alternates list (qualifying was canceled to allow courts to recover from recent flooding):


2013 Budapest Grand Prix, Doubles main draw entrants, Other entrants
The following pairs received wildcards into the doubles main draw:


2013 Budapest Grand Prix – Doubles
Janette Husárová and Magdaléna Rybáriková were the defending champions but decided not to participate. Andrea Hlaváčková and Lucie Hradecká won the title, defeating Nina Bratchikova and Anna Tatishvili in the final, 6–4, 6–1.


2013 Budapest Grand Prix – Singles
Sara Errani was the defending champion, but chose to compete in Palermo instead. Simona Halep won the title, defeating Yvonne Meusburger in the final, 6–3, 6–7(7–9), 6–1.


2013 Budweiser Duels
The 2013 Budweiser Duels were a pair of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series stock car races that were held on February 21, 2013, at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. Both contested over 60 laps, were the qualifying races for the 2013 Daytona 500. The first race was won by Kevin Harvick for the Richard Childress Racing team. Greg Biffle finished second, while Juan Pablo Montoya, Jimmie Johnson, and Kurt Busch rounded out the top five. Afterward, the second race was won by Kyle Busch. Kasey Kahne followed in the second position, while Austin Dillon, Clint Bowyer, and Matt Kenseth rounded out the top five.


2013 Budweiser Duels, Report, Background
Daytona International Speedway is one of  six  superspeedways to hold NASCAR races, the others being Michigan International Speedway, Auto Club Speedway, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Pocono Raceway and Talladega Superspeedway. The standard track at Daytona International Speedway is a four-turn superspeedway that is 2.5 miles (4.0 km) long. The track's turns are banked at 31 degrees, while the front stretch, the location of the finish line, is banked at 18 degrees.


2013 Budweiser Duels, Report, Races, Race 1
In the first Duel, consisting of cars that had qualified in an odd-numbered position, 2011 Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne dominated the race until Denny Hamlin lost control of his car on lap 53, crashing into Montoya, Edwards, and Bayne, ending their races. After the caution and green flag pit stops. Kevin Harvick took over the race lead and captured the first Duel, with Scott Speed taking the transfer spot. Brian Keselowski would be the only car in the first Duel that failed to qualify.


2013 Budweiser Duels, Report, Races, Race 2
The second duel was dominated by Jeff Gordon. With no cautions, Kyle Busch took the lead after crew chief Dave Rogers made the call to take only fuel. Busch would hold off Kasey Kahne and Austin Dillon to take his second Duel win. Mike Bliss was the second driver to miss the Daytona 500 after getting a window net penalty early.


2013 Buenos Aires train crash
The Buenos Aires train crash occurred on October 19, 2013 when a passenger train failed to stop at a terminal station in Buenos Aires, Argentina, injuring 105 people. As of October 2013, the causes of the accident were under investigation.


2013 Buenos Aires train crash, Antecedents
The Sarmiento railway line had similar accidents in the previous months. The 2012 rail disaster took place on February 22, 2012, and caused 52 deaths and 700 injuries. The ensuing political scandal led to the demotion of Transportation Secretary Juan Pablo Schiavi, and a trial for the causes of the accident that is still open.


2013 Buenos Aires train crash, Antecedents
The line's private operator, TBA, had its concessions to operate the Mitre and Sarmiento lines revoked on May 24, 2012. Both lines were operated by the private consortium UGOMS at the time of the accident.


2013 Buenos Aires train crash, Accident
At 07:35 local time (10:35 UTC), a passenger train failed to stop at Once Station in Buenos Aires, colliding with the buffer stop. The lead car jumped the retaining wall and landed on the platform. More than 99 people were reported injured, five seriously.


2013 Buenos Aires train crash, Accident
The driver, who was among the injured, was confronted by a number of passengers who yelled "Murderer!, Murderer!" at him. He was rescued by police and taken to hospital. The driver, Julio Benítez, was arrested after he was found with the train event recorder hidden in his backpack; Benítez had attempted to destroy the device. The police recovered the hard drive. He is currently detained at the hospital, under isolation.


2013 Buenos Aires train crash, Accident
A minor riot broke out outside the station, which was quelled by the police. A fleet of 30 ambulances and two helicopters took the injured to around a dozen different hospitals.


2013 Buenos Aires train crash, Cause
As of October 2013, the cause of the accident had not been determined. Pablo Gunning, spokesman of the Sarmiento Line, said that there were no reported problems in the train, and that it would not be advisable to speculate a reason only a few hours after the accident.


2013 Buenos Aires train crash, Cause
A witness claimed that the train had problems stopping at the two previous stations to Once; another one said a similar thing about the Ciudadela station several miles to the west. Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo reported that the train entered Once Station at a speed of 22 kilometres per hour (14 mph) instead of the regulatory 12 kilometres per hour (7.5 mph). Randazzo also stated that, according to the GPS, the train stopped at all the stations without problems. He said that the unit had undergone general maintenance on October 15, and that the alcohol test on the motorman had a negative result. He pointed out as well that the motorman had not called to report any problem during the journey.


2013 Buenos Aires train crash, Cause
Several new trains were purchased in China a few months before, but the train that crashed was one of the older ones. At the time of the accident the new trains were only used from Monday to Friday; the accident took place on Saturday.


2013 Buenos Aires train crash, Political reactions
Activist Luis D'Elía stated that the accident was the result of a conspiracy to undermine Front for Victory candidates in the mid-term legislative elections scheduled for October 27 (a week after the incident). He accused Congressman Fernando Solanas and the union leader Rubén Sobrero of being involved. D'Elía had said similar things about the Castelar rail accident, which took place in June along the same line. Interior Minister Florencio Randazzo was asked about this, and did not dismiss any potential cause. The Secretary of Public Security, Sergio Berni, made a similar statement, adding that the investigation led by Judge Ariel Lijo will clarify the causes.


2013 Buenos Aires train crash, Political reactions
President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner had been operated from a subdural hematoma a few days before. Still in post-operative care, she was not informed of the event.


2013 Buenos Aires train crash, Political reactions
Fernando Solanas, candidate for Senator, blamed Minister Florencio Randazzo for the accident. He considers him responsible for the poor maintenance of the railways. Congresswoman Margarita Stolbizer asked that Randazzo and Planning Minister Julio de Vido resign. The Mayor of Tigre and candidate for Congress on the opposition Renewal Front ticket, Sergio Massa, preferred to wait for the investigations before making opinions, and criticized the lack of long term policies.


2013 Buenos Aires train crash, Aftermath
Some of the relatives of the deceased in the 2012 accident repudiated this new incident. They considered that there is no proof of any sabotage, and pointed to the already manifested concerns about the condition of the specific unit that crashed. Gregorio Dalbón, hired to represent a number of the victims in this new incident, asked that the driver, Julio Benítez, be detained by Judge Lijo on the charges of gross negligence, destroying evidence and obstruction of justice.


2013 Buffalo Bandits season
The Buffalo Bandits are a lacrosse team based in Buffalo, New York playing in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). The 2013 season was their twenty-second season in the NLL.


2013 Buffalo Bandits season
The Bandits started the season with a fairly strong 5-3 record, with wins over their division rivals the Toronto Rock and Philadelphia Wings and two wins over the defending champion Rochester Knighthawks. But for the second straight season, the Bandits lost six in a row to put their playoff hopes in jeopardy. They finished the season 6-10 and out of the playoffs for the first time since 2002.


2013 Buffalo Bandits season
After the season, long-time coach Darris Kilgour was fired by the Bandits.


2013 Buffalo Bandits season, Standings
x: Clinched playoff berth; c: Clinched playoff berth by crossing over to another division; y: Clinched division; z: Clinched best regular season record; GP: Games PlayedW: Wins; L: Losses; GB: Games back; PCT: Win percentage; Home: Record at Home; Road: Record on the Road; GF: Goals scored; GA: Goals allowedDifferential: Difference between goals scored and allowed; GF/GP: Average number of goals scored per game; GA/GP: Average number of goals allowed per game


2013 Buffalo Bandits season, Transactions, Entry Draft
The 2012 NLL Entry Draft took place on October 1, 2012. The Bandits made the following selections:


2013 Buffalo Bills season
The 2013 Buffalo Bills season was the franchise's 44th season in the National Football League and the first under head coach Doug Marrone. It was also the final season under the ownership of Ralph Wilson, who died in March 2014 at the age of 95. The team equaled their record from 2012 and missed the playoffs, increasing their playoff drought to 14 seasons. This was the first year of renewed leases on Ralph Wilson Stadium and for the Bills Toronto Series, both of which were signed in the preceding offseason.


2013 Buffalo Bills season
The Toronto series was originally set to expire in 2017, but was cancelled in December 2014; the lease on Ralph Wilson Stadium expires in 2022 and will presumably be the last agreement with the aging stadium, as the lease specifies that the process of exploring a new stadium begins during the lease period. The Bills also started the 2013 season with a new starting quarterback, first-round draft pick EJ Manuel, after previous starter Ryan Fitzpatrick refused a pay cut and was subsequently released.


2013 Buffalo Bills season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 1: vs. New England Patriots
Stephen Gostkowski kicked a 35-yard field goal with five seconds left to give the Patriots the win.


2013 Buffalo Bills season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 2: vs. Carolina Panthers
Buffalo trailed for most of their Week 2 game against the Panthers but took the lead with two seconds left after Stevie Johnson caught a 2-yard touchdown pass from EJ Manuel. Dan Carpenter kicked the extra point to give the Bills a 24–23 win.


2013 Buffalo Bills season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 4: vs. Baltimore Ravens
The Bills defense intercepted Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco five times in this game, as Flacco completed only 50% of his passes. Despite the five turnovers, the game was still somewhat close, but the Bills won the game 23–20.


2013 Buffalo Bills season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 5: at Cleveland Browns
EJ Manuel left the game for the Bills with a knee injury, and was replaced by Jeff Tuel. The Bills had a 24–17 lead in the third quarter, but the Browns, who also lost quarterback Brian Hoyer, won the game with Brandon Weeden at the helm. T. J. Ward returned an interception 44 yards to seal the game.


2013 Buffalo Bills season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 6: vs. Cincinnati Bengals
The Bills trailed 24–10 in the fourth quarter, but came back to tie the game after Marquise Goodwin caught a 40-yard touchdown pass from Thad Lewis and force overtime. In the extra period, the Bills got the ball first, but were forced to punt after they went three-and-out. The Bengals returned the punt 39 yards to set them up in field goal range. A couple of plays later, Mike Nugent kicked the game winning 43-yard field goal.


2013 Buffalo Bills season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 8: at New Orleans Saints
This marked the Bills' only game outside of the Eastern time zone during the 2013 season.


2013 Buffalo Bills season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 15: at Jacksonville Jaguars
With the win, the Bills improved to 5–9, but were eliminated from playoff contention with the Miami Dolphins' win over the New England Patriots.


2013 Buffalo Bills season, Schedule, Game summaries, Week 17: at New England Patriots
With the loss, the Bills ended their season at 6–10.


2013 Buffalo Bulls football team
The 2013 Buffalo Bulls football team represented the University at Buffalo in the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by fourth-year head coach Jeff Quinn and played their home games at University at Buffalo Stadium. They completed as a member of the East Division of the Mid-American Conference. They finished the season 8–5, 6–2 in MAC play to finish in second place in the East Division. They were invited to the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl, only the second bowl game in school history, where they were defeated by San Diego State.


2013 Buffalo Bulls football team, Game summaries, @ Ohio State
In their first game of the season, the Bulls lost, 40–20 to the Ohio State Buckeyes.


2013 Buffalo Bulls football team, Game summaries, @ Baylor
In their second game of the season, the Bulls lost, 70–13 to the Baylor Bears.


2013 Buffalo Bulls football team, Game summaries, Stony Brook
In their third game of the season, the Bulls won, 26–23, in 5 overtimes, over the Stony Brook Seawolves.


2013 Buffalo Bulls football team, Game summaries, UConn
In their fourth game of the season, the Bulls won, 41–12 over the UConn Huskies.


2013 Buffalo Bulls football team, Game summaries, Eastern Michigan
In their fifth game of the season, the Bulls won, 42–14 over the Eastern Michigan Eagles.


2013 Buffalo Bulls football team, Game summaries, @ Western Michigan
In their sixth game of the season, the Bulls won, 33–0 over the Western Michigan Broncos.


2013 Buffalo Bulls football team, Game summaries, Massachusetts
In their seventh game of the season, the Bulls won, 32–3 over the Massachusetts Minutemen.


2013 Buffalo Bulls football team, Game summaries, @ Kent State
In their eighth game of the season, the Bulls won, 41–21 over the Kent State Golden Flashes.


2013 Buffalo Bulls football team, Game summaries, Ohio
In their ninth game of the season, the Bulls won, 30–3 over the Ohio Bobcats.


2013 Buffalo Bulls football team, Game summaries, @ Toledo
In their tenth game of the season, the Bulls lost, 51–41 to the Toledo Rockets.


2013 Buffalo Bulls football team, Game summaries, @ Miami (OH)
In their eleventh game of the season, the Bulls won, 44–7 over the Miami RedHawks.


2013 Buffalo Bulls football team, Game summaries, Bowling Green
In their twelfth game of the season, the Bulls lost, 24–7 to the Bowling Green Falcons. The game was promoted as the "Clash at the Ralph," returning college football to the 70,000+ seat Ralph Wilson Stadium for the first time since the 1970s. (The stadium was nowhere near filled to capacity, but ticket sales were roughly on par with the Bulls' games at UB Stadium.) Had the Bulls won this game, they would have qualified for the MAC Championship Game.


2013 Buffalo Bulls football team, Game summaries, Famous Idaho Potato Bowl
In their thirteenth game of the season, the Bulls lost, 49–24 to the San Diego State Aztecs in the 2013 Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise, Idaho.


2013 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl
The 2013 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl was an American college football bowl game that was played on December 28, 2013 at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona. The 25th annual Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl featured the Michigan Wolverines of the Big Ten Conference and the Kansas State Wildcats of the Big 12 Conference. The game was telecast at 8:15 p.m. MST on ESPN. It is one of the 2013–14 bowl games that concluded the 2013 FBS football season. The game was sponsored by the Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant franchise.


2013 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl
Kansas State defeated Michigan by a score of 31–14, breaking the Wildcats' five-game bowl losing streak.


2013 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, Teams
This postseason game was the first meeting of the two teams.


2013 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, Teams, Michigan
The Michigan Wolverines represented the University of Michigan during the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wolverines played in the Legends Division of the Big Ten Conference and played their home games at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The team was led by head coach Brady Hoke, who was in his third season. The season ended with a record of 7-6 overall (3-5 in conference play).


2013 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, Teams, Michigan
The Wolverines won 6 of their first 7 games including a 41–30 victory over rival #14 Notre Dame. After defeating the Indiana Hoosiers 63–47, Michigan only won one more game and lost four more heading in to this bowl game.


2013 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, Teams, Kansas State
The Kansas State Wildcats represented Kansas State University for the 2013 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Wildcats played their home games at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas as they had done since 1968.


2013 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, Teams, Kansas State
The Wildcats were led by head coach Bill Snyder in his 22nd overall and fifth straight season since taking over his second tenure in 2009. Kansas State began their season with four losses in their first six games, including a 24–21 season opener against North Dakota State Bison, a program that competed in the 2013 NCAA Division I FCS football season. North Dakota State went on to finish the season undefeated with a record of 15–0 and won their third consecutive FCS Championship.


2013 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, Teams, Kansas State
As a member of the Big 12 Conference, the team began conference play with a loss to the Texas Longhorns. The regular season ended with a win over in-state rival Kansas in the Sunflower Showdown. The Wildcats completed their regular season with a 7–5 record (5-4 in conference play) by winning five of their final six regular season games, including a 49–26 win over #25 Texas Tech.


2013 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, Scoring summary
Kansas State scored first with a touchdown pass from Jake Waters to Tyler Lockett in the first quarter and K-State's kicker Ian Patterson made good on the extra point to take the lead 7–0. Kansas State maintained the lead for the remainder of the game. At halftime, Kansas State led 21–6 with Tyler Lockett receiving three touchdown passes from Jake Waters and Michigan succeeding with two field goals. After no score in the third quarter, Michigan's Fitzgerald Toussaint ran the ball three yards for a touchdown while Kansas State's Patterson made a field goal and John Hubert ran in a touchdown for 1 yard.


2013 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, Results
Kansas State won the game by a score of 31–14. Many sportswriters determined that Kansas State controlled the Michigan team through the entire game and one wrote "Kansas State dominates Michigan in Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl" to summarize the results. Another wrote that "K-State could be a 2014 Big 12 title contender" after the results of the game. Supporters of Michigan used the results to highlight high hopes for the upcoming seasons with comments such as "The young guys are the bright spot for this team."


2013 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, Results
Kansas State's Tyler Lockett was named the offensive MVP. Lockett finished the game with ten catches for 116 yards and three touchdowns to tie the Bowl record. Kansas State safety Dante Barnett was awarded the Defensive MVP. Barnett recorded a team-high eight tackles and an interception with a 51-yard return to the Michigan seven-yard line.


2013 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, Results
Kansas State quarterback Jake Waters was named the overall Most Valuable Player of the game.


2013 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, Viewing issue at Buffalo Wild Wings
Throughout Michigan, Wolverine fans decided to visit their local Buffalo Wild Wings restaurant to watch the game. However, upon arrival they learned that the restaurants were featuring UFC 168: Weidman vs. Silva 2, a mixed martial arts event held roughly that same time at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.


2013 Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl, Viewing issue at Buffalo Wild Wings
In the state of Michigan, customers were reduced to watching the bowl game on a small number of televisions with no sound. A corporate officer of Buffalo Wild Wings welcomed viewers to the game and encouraged people to watch a bowl game at one of their restaurants and at the same time disgruntled fans at the restaurants reported via Twitter that they were in the wrong place to watch the game on big screens and with sound.


2013 Buffalo mayoral election
The 2013 election for Mayor of Buffalo, New York took place on November 5, 2013. Two-term incumbent Mayor Byron Brown, a Democrat, faced Republican challenger Sergio Rodriguez.


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Background
The 2013 Buffalo mayoral race is notable as the first mayoral election in Buffalo's history to not feature any white, non-Hispanic candidates in either the primary or the general elections. A Buffalo News editorial noted that despite the historic racial aspect of the election, Buffalo voters that year tended to be more concerned with traditional issues such as crime and education, in sharp contrast to the deep ethnic divisions that have normally characterized city politics.


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Background, Candidates, Democratic Party
Brown was challenged in the Democratic primary by Bernard Tolbert, the former Special Agent-in-Charge of Buffalo's FBI field office, the former Vice-President of Security for the National Basketball Association, and a former executive with the Coca-Cola Company.


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Background, Candidates, Republican Party
Rodriguez, a 32-year-old, Dominican-born Marine Corps veteran, small business owner, and Medaille College administrator, ran unopposed as Buffalo's first Republican mayoral candidate since 2005.


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Background, Candidates, Other potential candidates
Early in 2013, City Comptroller Mark Schroeder was rumored to be considering a campaign for mayor. However, he declined to run and later endorsed Brown.


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Background, Candidates, Other potential candidates
Local businessman Matthew Ricchiazzi was reported in June 2013 to be circulating petitions for a possible mayoral campaign. If a Ricchiazzi campaign had actually materialized, it would have touched off a rare Republican primary between him and Rodriguez.


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Debates
Leading up to the primary elections on September 10, Brown, Tolbert and Rodriguez participated in three televised debates.


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Debates
The first mayoral debate took place on August 14, 2013 at the Buffalo News auditorium, sponsored by the Buffalo Association of Black Journalists and moderated by Al Vaughters of WIVB-TV. The dominant issue at the first debate was crime, with Rodriguez disputing Brown's assertion that crime has decreased in the city since the previous election; Brown rebutted by calling Rodriguez's statistics "absolutely false" and "nonsense".


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Debates
In addition, both Tolbert and Rodriguez claimed that Buffalo's police department is understaffed and inefficient, with Brown disputing Tolbert's specific claims that there has been a net loss in officers employed by the Buffalo Police since Brown's mayoral tenure began.


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Debates
Other issues that were debated included unemployment, with Brown forced to defend his administration in the face of statistics cited by Rodriguez showing that the unemployment rate in Buffalo rose from 6.3% to 10% during Brown's two terms as mayor, and low graduation rates in the Buffalo Public Schools, with Tolbert calling for more involvement by the mayor's office in the school system and Rodriguez going even further, favoring complete mayoral control of the school board as is the case in New York City and Yonkers, while Brown reaffirmed his commitment to cooperation with the Board of Education but denied he had the authority to directly participate in school-district policymaking.


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Debates
The second debate was held on August 22, 2013 at St. Mary's School for the Deaf, sponsored by the Parkside Community Association and moderated by Buffalo News reporter Brian Meyer, with questions fielded directly from the audience.


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Debates
The beleaguered state of the Buffalo Public Schools was the dominant topic in the second debate, with Tolbert elaborating on his earlier position regarding mayoral involvement in the school board by proposing that three of the nine school board members, as well as the school superintendent, be appointed directly by the mayor, while Rodriguez repeated his earlier call for direct mayoral control of the schools. Brown, for his part, touted his success in restoring music programs to Buffalo city schools as well as the hiring of more school security officers.


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Debates
In addition, the Brown administration's record on economic development was attacked by both challengers, with Brown's boasts of $1.7 billion in development projects currently underway in the city countered by Tolbert's criticism that Brown allowed the Buffalo Economic Renaissance Corporation to fold under his watch, as well as his characterization of economic development in Buffalo as concentrated in downtown at the expense of the neighborhoods. As well, Rodriguez cited statistics showing that Buffalo's employment base has been reduced by 10,000 people since Brown took office in 2006.


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Debates
The third and final mayoral debate was held on August 27, 2013 at WNED-TV studios. The candidates reiterated the points covered in the first two debates on police department staffing issues, unemployment, economic development, and problems in the Buffalo Public Schools. On the subject of crime, both Rodriguez and Tolbert derided Brown's use of gun buyback programs as a remedy for crime, with Tolbert characterizing the buybacks as "stunts".


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Debates
Also in the third debate, Tolbert was put on the defensive when he was asked about a sexual harassment lawsuit that had been filed against him while he was an executive at the National Basketball Association, while Brown was compelled to deny reports that his administration was rewarding campaign donors with patronage jobs as a quid pro quo and described a lawsuit filed against the city by a housing development company alleging a pay-to-play policy for awarding contracts as "baseless" and "absolute nonsense".


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Democratic primary, Campaigning
Though praised for his experience in crimefighting and community service and his "straight-shooting vibe", Tolbert was criticized for waiting until relatively late in the election to announce his candidacy, spending many months courting potential backers and conspicuously attending community events as speculation grew, but not establishing a campaign finance committee until April 2 nor officially entering the race until May 11.


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Democratic primary, Campaigning
In the run-up to the primary, a Siena College poll commissioned by the Buffalo News and WGRZ-TV and conducted between August 11 and 13, 2013 favored Brown to win the Democratic primary election against Tolbert by a margin of 61-32.


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Democratic primary, Campaigning
According to a Buffalo News editorial published on August 17, though his fundraising prowess, his name recognition and the other benefits of incumbency, and the great progress in waterfront development that took place during his administration would have made any primary challenge difficult, Brown's especially formidable lead was described as first and foremost a product of the shortcomings of his opponent's campaign, an anemic one by a political novice whose muddled message has failed to resonate with voters, and particularly with the African-American community whose loyalty to Brown Tolbert had hoped to challenge. For his part, Tolbert accused Brown of pressuring city workers to donate to his campaign as a condition of continued employment as well as engaging in intimidation tactics against volunteers on opposing campaigns, the latter of which was echoed by Rodriguez.


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Democratic primary, Campaigning
Despite an impressive performance by Tolbert in the three mayoral debates that frequently put Brown on the defensive, a subsequent Siena College poll taken three weeks after the aforementioned one showed that Brown had widened his lead over Tolbert by four points.


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Democratic primary, Election returns
The Democratic primary election was held on September 10, 2013. Brown won the election, earning 14,022 votes (68.1%) to Tolbert's 6,577 (31.9%).


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Democratic primary, Election returns
Commenting on Brown's official nomination the day after the election, a Buffalo News editorial reiterated the points made in the August 17 editorial regarding Brown's name recognition and the capital investments on the waterfront, also opining that the incumbent benefited from an electorate that largely believed Buffalo is heading in the right direction despite the problems facing the city school system, on which Tolbert tried and failed to capitalize. The editorial also mentioned the ample airtime on local television the Brown campaign purchased with its massive "fundraising war chest" for its commercial, which prominently featured President Barack Obama's praise of the sitting mayor during a visit to the University at Buffalo on August 22, 2013.


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Democratic primary, Election returns
Contrary to predictions, turnout in the primary was historically low, with roughly 20% of registered Democrats voting. This apathy was attributed variously to Brown's perceived invincibility given his overwhelming lead in the polls, or to a failure by both Brown and Tolbert to inspire enthusiasm among city voters.


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Conservative primary, Campaigning
In July 2013, under the terms of New York State's electoral fusion law, Rodriguez announced plans to mount a write-in candidacy as a Conservative to challenge that party's official endorsement of Brown, much as 2005 Republican candidate Kevin Helfer did, and also to circulate petitions for a possible independent run.


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Conservative primary, Campaigning
Rodriguez was indeed able to collect the required number of valid signatures to run as a Conservative, but the Erie County Conservative Party, who had earlier endorsed Brown, vigorously sought to fend off Rodriguez's challenge by distributing a mailer to Conservative-registered city voters assailing Rodriguez for his support of the NY SAFE Act and his past unpaid student loans, a move Rodriguez described as "ugly, dirty, slanderous and baseless politics that people have grown to detest" employed in order "to deny voters a choice".


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Conservative primary, Campaigning
The party also legally challenged all of the petitions collected by Rodriguez based on a little-known stipulation that the notaries public who distribute Opportunity To Ballot petitions must swear in the signers; this effort was dismissed by Erie County Supreme Court Justice John Michalek, setting the stage for a Conservative primary.


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Conservative primary, Election returns
The Conservative primary was held on September 10, 2013. Brown captured 70 of the votes cast, while Rodriguez captured 44 and Tolbert 11.


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Republican campaign
Rodriguez officially announced his candidacy on February 6, 2013. His robust campaign featured an active social media presence and an emphasis on grassroots campaigning as exemplified by his "30 Day Every Neighborhood Tour" in September and October, which saw the candidate go door-to-door interacting with and fielding questions from residents of all parts of the city. Nonetheless, it was remarked in the Buffalo News that although Rodriguez has generated some buzz among Buffalo Hispanics, he has as yet failed to unite the city's Latino community in support of his long-shot candidacy.


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Republican campaign
In addition to his pursuit of the Conservative line, Rodriguez's petitions for an independent run also bore fruit with his announcement on September 25 that he would be running on a new ballot line, dubbed the Progressive Party. The party's name and platform make direct reference to the Progressive or "Bull Moose" Party founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1912, with a stated goal of reforming city government by transcending partisan divisions and "making governmental changes parallel with the changing needs of its people... with a dignity defined by moral strength and urgency".


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Endorsements
Brown received the endorsement of the Erie County Democratic Party, and also of the Erie County Conservative, Working Families, and Independence parties. He was also endorsed by, among others, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, U.S. Congressman Brian Higgins, New York State Senator Tim Kennedy, Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, New York State Assemblypeople Crystal Peoples-Stokes, Sean Ryan, and Michael Kearns (the latter of whom had been his primary challenger in the previous election), the Buffalo Niagara Partnership, and the Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors.


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Endorsements
Tolbert, whose criticism of Brown in the months leading up to the Democratic primary largely centered on the incumbent mayor's crime-fighting efforts, received the endorsement of the Buffalo Police Benevolent Association in July 2013. Tolbert also received the endorsement of Challenger Community News, one of Buffalo's two African-American community newspapers.


2013 Buffalo mayoral election, Endorsements
Rodriguez received the endorsement of the City of Buffalo Republican Committee. However, the Erie County Republican Party has declined to endorse Rodriguez, amid accusations from Rodriguez's camp that county Republican officials have pressured him to drop out of the race for fear that increased voter turnout in heavily Democratic Buffalo could be a detriment to Republican candidates for countywide office. Rodriguez also received the endorsement of "The Griffin", the Canisius College student paper.


2013 Bukidnon local elections
Local elections were held in the Province of Bukidnon on May 13, 2013 as part of the 2013 general election. Voters will select candidates for all local positions: a town mayor, vice mayor and town councilors, as well as members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, the vice-governor, governor and representatives for the four districts of Bukidnon.


2013 Bukidnon local elections, Provincial Elections
The candidates for governor and vice governor with the highest number of votes wins the seat; they are voted separately, therefore, they may be of different parties when elected.


2013 Bukidnon local elections, Provincial Elections, Candidates for Governor
Incumbent Gov.Alex Calingasan is running for Vice Governor. former Gov.Jose Maria Zubiri, Jr. is his party's nominee.


2013 Bukidnon local elections, Provincial Elections, Candidates for Vice-Governor
Incumbent Vice Governor Jose Maria Zubiri, Jr. is running for Governor. Incumbent Gov.Alex Calingasan is his party's nominee.


2013 Bukidnon local elections, Provincial Elections, Congressional Election
Bukidnon was redistricted into four districts after the candidacies were submitted. As a result, the Commission on Elections (Philippines) will take into account the places where the nominees are registered to determine on what district they are running under.


2013 Bukidnon local elections, Provincial Elections, Congressional Election, 3rd District
Incumbent from the predistricted third district Jose Ma. Zubiri III found himself running at the redistricted 3rd district. His Bukidnon Paglaum party is in an electoral alliance with the Liberal Party.


2013 Bukidnon local elections, Provincial Elections, Sangguniang Panlalawigan Elections
All 4 Districts of Bukidnon will elect Sangguniang Panlalawigan or provincial board members.


2013 Bukidnon local elections, City and Municipal Elections
All cities and municipalities of Bukidnon will elect mayor and vice-mayor this election. The candidates for mayor and vice mayor with the highest number of votes wins the seat; they are voted separately, therefore, they may be of different parties when elected. Below is the list of mayoralty candidates of each city and municipalities per district.


2013 Bukidnon local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 1st District, Malitbog
Mayor Aida dela Rosa is no longer seeking reelection but her husband, former mayor Munding Dela Rosa is vying for the seat again.


2013 Bukidnon local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 1st District, Sumilao
Rey Baula is the incumbent. he is challenge by councilor Dante Cuevas


2013 Bukidnon local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 1st District, Talakag
Nestor Macapayag is the incumbent. Vice Mayor Renato Sulatan is his main opponent.


2013 Bukidnon local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 2nd District, Malaybalay City
Ignacio Zubiri is the incumbent. Vice Mayor Victor Aldeguer is his main opponent.


2013 Bukidnon local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 2nd District, Impasugong
Mario Okinlay is the incumbent. he is challenge by Former Bukidnon Second Electric Cooperative board member Oliver Aldovino.


2013 Bukidnon local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 2nd District, San Fernando
Incumbent Laurencia Edma is no longer running. his husband Vice Mayor Levi Edma, Sr. is her party's nominee.


2013 Bukidnon local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 3rd District, Dangcagan
Incumbent Edilberto Ayuban is term-limited and running for vice mayor instead. Vice Mayor Dodong Dandasan is his party's nominee.


2013 Bukidnon local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 3rd District, Kibawe
Minerva Casinabe is the incumbent. she is oppose by Coun.Rodulfo Jurado.


2013 Bukidnon local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 3rd District, Kitaotao
Incumbent Rodito Rafisura is term-limited. his party nominate Vice Mayor Tata Gawilan.


2013 Bukidnon local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 3rd District, Quezon
Gregorio Gue is the incumbent. he will challenge by John John Fortich who is member of Fortich clan who ruled Bukidnon for several decades.


2013 Bukidnon local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 4th District, Valencia City
Leandro Jose Catarata is the incumbent. he is oppose by his political rival Jose Galario, Jr. and 2 city councilors Arlyn Ayon and Baby Mabao.


2013 Bukidnon local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 4th District, Kalilangan
Incumbent Nenita Suyao is term-limited and running for Provincial Board Member instead. her party nominate Raymon Charl Gamboa.


2013 Bulacan local elections
Local elections was held in the province of Bulacan on May 13, 2013 as part of the 2013 general election. Voters will select candidates for all local positions: a town mayor, vice mayor and town councilors, as well as members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, the vice-governor, governor and representatives for the four districts of Bulacan.


2013 Bulacan local elections, Provincial Elections
The candidates for governor and vice governor with the highest number of votes wins the seat; they are voted separately, therefore, they may be of different parties when elected.


2013 Bulacan local elections, Provincial Elections
Incumbent Governor Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado of NUP is running for his reelection unopposed, his running mate is Incumbent Vice Governor and Actor Daniel Fernando.


2013 Bulacan local elections, Provincial Elections, Congressional Election
Each of Bulacan's four legislative districts will elect each representative to the House of Representatives. The candidate with the highest number of votes wins the seat.


2013 Bulacan local elections, Provincial Elections, Congressional Election, 2nd District
Incumbent Pedro Pancho is term limited; his son Gavini is his party's nominee.


2013 Bulacan local elections, Provincial Elections, Sangguniang Panlalawigan Elections
All 4 Districts of Bulacan will elect Sangguniang Panlalawigan or provincial board members. The first (including Malolos) and fourth (including San Jose del Monte) districts sends three board members each, while the second and third districts sends two board members each. Election is via plurality-at-large voting; a voter can vote up to the maximum number of board members his district is sending.


2013 Bulacan local elections, City and Municipal Elections
All cities and municipalities of Bulacan will elect mayor and vice-mayor this election. The candidates for mayor and vice mayor with the highest number of votes wins the seat; they are voted separately, therefore, they may be of different parties when elected. Below is the list of mayoralty candidates of each city and municipalities per district.


2013 Bulacan local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 1st District, City of Malolos
Christian Natividad is the incumbent, his opponent is former mayor Danilo Domingo.


2013 Bulacan local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 1st District, Calumpit
James P. De Jesus (The Brother of Jess P. De Jesus) is the incumbent mayor.


2013 Bulacan local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 1st District, Paombong
Incumbent Donato Marcos withdrew his candidacy, he was substitute by his wife Maryanne Marcos. Her opponent is councilor Gani Castro.


2013 Bulacan local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 1st District, Pulilan
Incumbent Vicente Esguerra running for his reelection unopposed and independent.


2013 Bulacan local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 2nd District, Balagtas
Romeo Castro is the incumbent. his opponent is Gina Estrella of UNA.


2013 Bulacan local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 2nd District, Baliuag
Incumbent Romeo Estrella is term-limited, Provincial league of Barangays President Ferdie Estrella is his party's nominee.


2013 Bulacan local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 2nd District, Bocaue
Jon-Jon Villanueva is the incumbent, his main opponents are vice mayor Jose Santiago, Jr. and former mayor Serafin Dela Cruz.


2013 Bulacan local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 2nd District, Bustos
Arnel Mendoza is the incumbent, he will face again former mayor Carlito Reyes, on 2010 election Mendoza defeated Reyes with margin of 3442.


2013 Bulacan local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 2nd District, Guiguinto
Isagani Pascual is the incumbent, his opponent is former mayor Ambrosio Cruz, Jr.


2013 Bulacan local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 2nd District, Pandi
Enrico Roque is the incumbent, his opponent is vice mayor Rachel Oca. Rachel is widow of former mayor Roberto Oca.


2013 Bulacan local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 2nd District, Pandi
It was alleged that Dra. Rachel Santos Oca's Legal team have some proof of election vote-buying violations. Voters were allegedly required to wear yellow baller by the one who was the recipient of this vote-buying activity. Pandi is known for rampant vote-buying activities in the past elections but just like what the Honorable current COMELEC head said, not a single violator has been imprisoned yet in any of this democratic processes.


2013 Bulacan local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 2nd District, Plaridel
Incumbent Anastacia Vistan is term-limited, her daughter Jocell Vistan is her party's nominee. her main opponent is vice mayor Leo Yap.


2013 Bulacan local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 3rd District, Angat
Gilberto Santos is the incumbent, his opponent is former mayor Leonardo De Leon.


2013 Bulacan local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 3rd District, Doña Remedios Trinidad
Ronaldo Flores is the incumbent, his opponent is Pangko Sembrano.


2013 Bulacan local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 3rd District, Norzagaray
Fel Legaspi is the incumbent, his opponent is Alfredo "Fred" De Guzman Germar.


2013 Bulacan local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 3rd District, San Ildefonso
Incumbent Carla Paula Galvez-Tan withdrew her candidacy to give way to her father former mayor Edgardo Galvez, former mayor Edgardo Galvez opponent is his nephew Gerald Galvez. Gerald is son of former mayor Gener Galvez, former mayor Gener is brother of Edgardo Galvez.


2013 Bulacan local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 3rd District, San Miguel
Roderick Tiongson is the incumbent, his opponent is Brgy. Sta. Ines Captain John "Bong" Alvarez.


2013 Bulacan local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 3rd District, San Rafael
Lorna Silverio is the incumbent, her opponent is vice mayor Goto Viologo.


2013 Bulacan local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 4th District, Marilao
Incumbent Epifanio Guillermo is term-limited, his party nominate vice mayor Tito Santiago. his opponents is Henry Lutao and Ruperto Montaos, Jr.


2013 Bulacan local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 4th District, Meycauayan City
Joan Alarilla is the incumbent, his opponent is former vice mayor Salvador Violago, Sr. on 2010 election. Alarilla defeated Violago with a margin of 10493 votes.


2013 Bulacan local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 4th District, Obando
Orencio Gabriel is the incumbent, his opponents are vice mayor Danilo De Ocampo and Edwin Santos. on 2010 election Gabriel defeated Santos with a margin of 7857 votes.


2013 Bulacan local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 4th District, Santa Maria
Bartolome Ramos is the incumbent, his opponent is Rogelio Barcial.


2013 Bulacan local elections, City and Municipal Elections, 4th District, San Jose del monte City
Reynaldo San Pedro is the incumbent, his main opponents are former mayor Angelito Sarmiento and Rida Robes, the wife of incumbent Congressman Arthur Robes.


2013 Bulgarian Cup Final
The 2013 Bulgarian Cup Final was the 73rd final of the Bulgarian Cup, and was contested between Beroe Stara Zagora and Levski Sofia on 15 May 2013. The match finished in a 3–3 draw, but Beroe clinched their second ever Bulgarian Cup title by winning 3–1 on penalties.


2013 Bulgarian Cup Final, Pre-match
Beroe reached the final for the second time in the last 3 years. The last time being in 2010 when they celebrated their first and only trophy in the competition. Levski on their side reached their first Bulgarian Cup final since 2007. The blues also hold the record in the tournament by winning 25 cups. This will be the second final in history held between these two clubs. The first one being in 1979 won by Levski with 4-1.


2013 Bulgarian Cup Final, Pre-match
The final will take place at Lovech Stadium in Lovech. The stadium has more than 8100 seating places with pitch dimensions of 105 x 68 metres. Each of the two teams was allocated 3,700 tickets for the final, while the remainder went to the grassroots football community.


2013 Bulgarian Supercup
The 2013 Bulgarian Supercup was played on 10 July 2013 at Vasil Levski National Stadium in Sofia, between the winners of the previous season's A group and Bulgarian Cup competitions. The match was contested by the champions of the 2012–13 A PFG, Ludogorets Razgrad, and the 2013 Bulgarian Cup winners, Beroe Stara Zagora.


2013 Bulgarian Supercup
This was the second Supercup final for both teams with Ludogorets winning their first one against Lokomotiv Plovdiv in 2012 and Beroe losing to Litex Lovech in 2010 after extra time. Beroe won their first ever Supercup after defeating Ludogorets on penalties.


2013 Bulgarian nuclear power referendum
A referendum on building a new nuclear power plant was held in Bulgaria on 27 January 2013. Whilst it was not explicitly mentioned in the question, it was widely acknowledged that the referendum was about restarting construction at the Belene Nuclear Power Plant.


2013 Bulgarian nuclear power referendum
Although the proposal was approved in all 31 electoral divisions, turnout did not pass the required 60% threshold, resulting in the referendum becoming non-binding.


2013 Bulgarian nuclear power referendum, Background
Construction on the Belene Nuclear Power Plant began in the 1980s, but was later frozen. The Bulgarian government was also forced to close four nuclear reactors as a condition of joining the European Union in 2007. In 2008 the Socialist Party government approved a contract for restarting construction. However, in March 2012 the GERB-led government scrapped plans to continue building the plant, claiming that it could not afford to invest a further €10 billion, after €1 billion had already been spent on the project, and that the electricity produced would be too expensive. According to some analysts however, electricity produced by Belene would be cheaper than current sources.


2013 Bulgarian nuclear power referendum, Background
The Socialist Party claimed that it would only cost between €4 and €6 billion. They started a petition, and collected over 500,000 signatures, enough to force a referendum. Although the petition called for a referendum on the future of the Belene NPP project, the word "Belene" was subsequently removed from the question on insistence by the ruling GERB party.


2013 Bulgarian nuclear power referendum, Electoral system
The referendum requires a turnout of at least 60% for the referendum to be valid. Voters were asked the question "Should nuclear energy be developed in Bulgaria through construction of a new nuclear power plant?"


2013 Bulgarian nuclear power referendum, Campaign
Supporters of the plant argued that it would mean the country would not have to buy electricity from Romania and Turkey, whilst opponents have claimed that it would increase the country's energy dependence on Russia, as the Russian firm Atomstroyexport had been contracted to build the plant.


2013 Bulgarian parliamentary election
Parliamentary elections were held in Bulgaria on 12 May 2013, two months ahead of schedule. Protests had forced the resignation of the GERB government in February, leading to the election being moved up.


2013 Bulgarian parliamentary election
The elections resulted in a minority parliament, with no party winning a majority of seats. Furthermore, voter turnout was at its lowest since the end of the Communist era. For the first time since the return to democracy in 1990, a political party (GERB) won two elections in a row. Despite emerging victorious, GERB's leader, Boyko Borisov, called for the election results to be annulled, claiming that there had been "illegal campaigning" on the day before the election.


2013 Bulgarian parliamentary election, Background
High electricity prices and poverty ignited mass protests in February 2013, eventually leading to the resignation of the GERB government and early elections. The elections were originally scheduled to be held in July, but had to be brought forward. The government resigned the day after clashes between the police and protesters led to bloodshed and a number of civilians being badly injured. А caretaker government was appointed on 13 March 2013 by President Rosen Plevneliev to serve until the elections. On 28 February, Plevneliev announced the earliest possible date for the election would be 12 May.


2013 Bulgarian parliamentary election, Electoral system
The 240 members of the National Assembly were elected by closed-list proportional representation in 31 multi-member constituencies. Parties had to receive at least 4% of the national vote to win any of the proportional seats, which were distributed using the largest remainder method.


2013 Bulgarian parliamentary election, Electoral system
Parties that failed to pass the 4% threshold, but received more than 1% of the national vote were to be allocated annual state subsidies to the amount of 12 leva (€6) per vote received.


2013 Bulgarian parliamentary election, Campaign
As a result of the protests over electricity prices, the distribution license for Czech utility company ČEZ was revoked. President Rosen Plevneliev told parliament: "I believe that the necessary key changes in the laws should be decided by a new parliament. The decision is to hold elections."


2013 Bulgarian parliamentary election, Campaign
Former European Commissioner Meglena Kuneva broke from the National Movement for Stability and Progress, formed around Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha. She claimed her new party would have significant support even though opinion polls indicated otherwise. She also indicated that it was likely her civil society organisation, Movement "Bulgaria of the Citizens", would become a party as it was "the only way to participate in elections." Rumours suggested she could be a coalition partner to GERB, but she played down such suggestions. In the Socialist party there was infighting over whether Sergei Stanishev or Georgi Parvanov would lead the party.


2013 Bulgarian parliamentary election, Campaign
Several of the parties were newly formed by citizens, resulting from the public discontent from the 2013 Bulgarian protests and the months leading up to them. One such party is People's Voice, formed by Hipodil frontman Svetlio Vitkov. Others were led by citizens using the ticket of parties which were already in existence, as they had not managed to fulfill the strict registration requirements in the two months between the government's resignation and the elections – one such party is the Democratic Citizens' Initiative. In all cases, the citizens' parties still needed to collect the 7,000 signatures necessary for participating in the elections.


2013 Bulgarian parliamentary election, Campaign, Controversy
Al  Jazeera reported voter apathy due to scandals and disappointment with politicians. During the campaign there were also allegations of fraud and an illegal wiretapping scandal. The day before the election, a printing press in Kostinbrod was raided and 350,000 alleged illegally printed ballots were recovered. BSP leader Sergey Stanishev said that this was preparation for fraud with 10 percent of the electoral turnout being falsified for about 25 constituencies. He said: "This is a scandal unseen in Bulgaria so far." There was also allegations of illegal wiretapping of politicians.


2013 Bulgarian parliamentary election, Campaign, Controversy
Prosecutors suggested former Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov was responsible with media revealing Borisov's alleged summons of Sofia's chief prosecutor to discuss details of the bribery probe. The OSCE's monitoring delegation member Eoghan Murphy said of the fraudulent ballot papers: "It's not for us to investigate these matters. It is for the Bulgarian authorities, but we will be interested in their assessment of the situation and how they deal with the matter as reported." In their post-election press-conferences and press interviews, many of the parties stated that the vote should be invalidated because of the so-called "ballot-gate".


2013 Bulgarian parliamentary election, Campaign, Controversy
The revelation of the illegal ballots was made on the day before the election, designated "day for thought", when no political campaigning is allowed. Most of the major parties held press conferences immediately after the revelation, after which the Prosecutor's office made a formal announcement on the matter. The Prosecution was then accused by GERB that their announcement "cost them 5-6% of the vote", and four days later, in their first press conference since election night, Borisov stated that he will officially ask for an invalidation of the vote.


2013 Bulgarian parliamentary election, Results
There were 6.9 million eligible voters. Voting ended at 21:00. There were also over 250 international electoral monitors. Turnout was 51.3%. Four parties passed the electoral threshold, winning seats in parliament. These four parties account for only 75.76% of all valid ballots cast.


2013 Bulgarian parliamentary election, Reactions
The election was noted for its low voter turnout. After voting finished, about 50 protesters congregated outside the election centre at the Palace of Culture in Sofia demanding GERB not be given a chance to form a new government. The protesters chanted "mafia" and were involved in brief scuffles with the police. Sergei Stanishev, leader of the second-place Bulgarian Socialist Party, dismissed GERB's chances of forming a government and expressed willingness to negotiate with the other two parties. GERB set a precedent by not holding the traditional post-election press conference for elected parties, and they stayed out of the media for four days until the finalized results came out on Thursday.


2013 Bulgarian parliamentary election, Government formation
On 24 May, Borisov returned the president's mandate to try and form a government. President Rosen Plevneliev then invited the BSP to form a government. Reuters speculated that the BSP and the DPS will put together a cabinet of non-partisan specialists. That will be approved if some of Attack's 23 MPs boycott the vote, as they did for the election of the new speaker, Mihail Mikov. Former Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski was nominated for the post of prime minister by the BSP and, after a meeting with the Movement for Rights and Freedoms, was appointed on 29 May. About his new cabinet, Oresharski said: "I have always been skeptical towards the division between leftists and rightists. There are some situations in which the most important thing is a rational and pragmatic approach. The main criterion for the composition of the cabinet is expertise."


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet
The 2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet were civil demonstrations against high electricity and hot water bills resulting from monopolism in the sphere that began in Blagoevgrad on 28 January 2013, and subsequently spread to over 30 cities in Bulgaria that ended with the resignation of the Boyko Borisov government on 20 February 2013. They were caused by abnormally high electricity bills, but later turned into a mass non-partisan movement against the government and the political system. The events were marked by seven self-immolations (five of them fatal), spontaneous demonstrations and a strong sentiment against political parties.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet
As a result of the demonstrations, the centre-right government of Boyko Borisov resigned and a caretaker cabinet led by Marin Raykov was appointed. The demands of protesters, however, were not addressed, and demonstrations continued throughout the country, calling for a change of the political model and nationalisation of strategic economic sectors.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Background
Electrical power distribution in Bulgaria was managed by a state-owned monopoly until 2005, when the government sold 67% of it to three foreign power companies - German E.ON, Austrian EVN Group and Czech ČEZ Group. In 2011, E.ON sold its Bulgarian branch to Energo-Pro, a private Czech power company, and on the next year the state sold its stakes in CEZ. EVN, ČEZ and Energo-Pro virtually operate as private regional monopolies whose activities are overseen by the State Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (SCEWR).


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Background
The state also sold its power distribution infrastructure to these private distributors, thus losing control over the management of profits. The main energy companies are believed to have acquired debts in the four years preceding the demonstrations, which partly contributed to a rather unbalanced situation in the energy sphere. In addition, residents of Sofia have been voicing their concerns for years against the city's district heating provider – Toplofikatsiya Sofia, which has a monopoly on heat distribution in the city.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Background
Discontent has been created by very high prices and the fact that the company only reviews readings from customers' calorimetres once a year and the rest of the time it forms bills using "estimates", the complex and allegedly illegal formulas the company uses for calculating the bills and the lack of accountability and the practices of the so-called "heating accountancy firms", which act as middle-men between Toplofikatsiya and its customers.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Background
At the same time, Bulgaria has a rapidly expanding renewable energy market. Growth in the sector has surpassed forecasts and has notably increased prices and strain on the electrical grid in the past few years. Investment in wind and solar power installations between 2008 and 2012 in Bulgaria is estimated at more than 4 billion euros, which needs to be repaid by surcharges on electricity prices over the next years. Since 2005, electricity prices for industrial consumers, along with other utilities, have doubled or tripled.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Background
In 2011, SCEWR rejected demands by regional monopolies to increase power prices, but a string of severe price spikes occurred in 2012 as a consequence of renewable energy charges. In response, the government drastically cut preferential feed-in tariffs for solar power with 50%, and with 22% for wind power. SCEWR also increased power transmission fees by 50 per cent in an attempt to curb green energy production. These measures led to a drop in electricity exports and withdrawal of investment projects, but prices continued to rise slowly in the following months. Subsequent inflation caused by higher production costs was recorded as the highest for the past four years.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Background
Electricity costs are one of the main expenditures for Bulgarian citizens. Local analysts estimated that with rising living costs, almost 100 per cent of the average Bulgarian household's monthly income would be spent on utilities, food, transportation, healthcare and education. Currently 85 per cent of household monthly incomes are spent on basic necessities. Prices in Bulgaria amount to 49 per cent of the European Union average, At the same time average salaries are the lowest among European Union members at 768 leva (393 euro) for September 2012.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Background
The minimum wage is ten times lower than that of some member states, amounting to 310 leva (159 euro), or about 1 euro per hour. Twenty-two per cent of the labour force are employed on a minimum wage. For the past three years, incomes have marked almost no change, while prices have increased significantly. Austerity measures encouraged by the European Union and the International Monetary Fund during the recession have resulted in "catastrophic" social consequences according to the International Trade Union Confederation.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Background
The government of Boyko Borisov strictly imposed austerity measures and sustained fiscal stability, but also delayed government payments to private companies, and was criticised for worsening corruption and media freedom indicators, political authoritarianism and general economic stagnation. As a consequence, the support for Borisov and his centre-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party has been steadily declining since 2010. A major blow to GERB's popularity came after their decision to cancel the Belene Nuclear Power Plant project, which was believed to be a way to reduce electricity costs and create jobs. Mass protests for political or social causes are relatively uncommon in Bulgaria, but have become more frequent since 2007, when the issue of the preservation of Strandzha Mountain nature areas came to the forefront.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Initial phase
In late January 2013, protests occurred in Blagoevgrad after consumers received electricity bills that were two times higher than those for the previous month. Protesters symbolically burned their bills. A protester explained that her bill amounted to 310 leva, of which only 128 leva were for electricity consumption and the remainder were various tariffs and taxes. Some of the earliest protests also took place in Sandanski.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Initial phase
On 10 February, demonstrations occurred in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Ruse, Veliko Tarnovo, Shumen, Blagoevgrad, Sandanski, Silistra, Yambol, Gotse Delchev, Belene, Montana, Pazardjik, Dobrich and Kardzhali. The same day, two EVN utility vehicles were set ablaze in Plovdiv. Demonstrators in Sofia gathered in front of the Ministry of Economy, Energy and Tourism and threw snowballs at minister Delyan Dobrev. One protester was stabbed in Varna on 13 February 2013. The authorities of Kranevo also voiced discontent at the electricity prices, after communal services costs almost doubled in comparison to the same period of the previous year. The mayor of Kranevo said that his village was not an exception, and most localities in the municipality had the same issues.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Initial phase
By mid-February tens of thousands of people were on the streets, demanding nationalisation of the private regional monopolies, removal of subcontractors, assigning traffic and distribution to NEK EAD (the state-owned power distribution company), declassifying all contracts between the state and energy companies and more liberal combined heat and power usage laws, among others.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Initial phase
On 17 February, a fictitious declaration supposedly written by the three foreign power companies and dismissing the protester demands while calling on them to accept their own responsibility for the situation that had transpired, was circulated in the social media and caused further anger against the energy providers. According to analysts, in the initial phase of the demonstrations, more than 50% of the discontent was fuelled by the supposed abuses of the monopol companies, with only 15% traceable to anti-government feelings.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Anti-government movement
On 17 February, a national demonstration against monopolies gathered 10,000 people in Plovdiv, 8,000 (up to 30,000 by other estimates) in Varna and a smaller number in other cities. In total, 100,000 people protested all over the country in 35 cities and towns. Key motorways and transport routes in the country were blocked; rocks, bottles and eggs were thrown against Gendarmerie units, the Ministry of Economy and the National Assembly in the capital.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Anti-government movement
People chanted "mafia" and "resignation", and carried slogans such as "This is not a protest, it's a process - the struggle for a new Bulgaria", "Down with GERB" and "Janissaries, the end is coming". They gave the government one more week to respond to their demands. Clashes occurred near ČEZ's headquarters in Sofia.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Anti-government movement
Some media sources and protesters have used the term "Bulgarian Spring" as a moniker for the demonstrations.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Anti-government movement
On 18 February mass demonstrations continued all over the country. In Sofia, they escalated into civil resistance and protesters attempted to attack the National Assembly. The crowds were pushed back to Eagles' Bridge (the starting point of the protest), and after their demands to begin immediate talks with government representatives remained unanswered, they moved towards the National Palace of Culture. Clashes with police and Gendarmerie units on Hristo Botev boulevard left two police officers injured and six patrol vehicles were damaged. Eleven people were arrested. In Veliko Tarnovo, one man set himself on fire and later died in a hospital.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Anti-government movement
The same day Boyko Borisov dismissed finance minister Simeon Dyankov, although this did not reduce public tensions. Dyankov was unpopular among the population because of his abrupt manners and strong insistence on austerity. According to some commentators, football fans gradually started to dominate the demonstrations and contributed to their escalation by steering them in a chaotic and violent direction.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Anti-government movement
On the same date, around 30 people led by members of the "No to the EU" coalition (Bulgarian: Коалиция „Не на ЕС") gathered in Sofia and burned a European Union flag, protesting against the EU's supposed discriminatory treatment of Bulgarians and its "toleration of the ethnic minorities in the country", expressing the sentiment that the country needs to exit the economic and political union.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Anti-government movement
On 19 February, which marked 140 years of national hero Vasil Levski's execution, violent clashes between protesters and police occurred in Sofia. Seven people, including two Gendarmerie officers, were injured during a police charge on protesters at Eagles' Bridge. 25 people were arrested, with the four minors among them quickly released. According to eyewitness accounts, a group of around 20 hooded provocateurs inflamed the situation by throwing firecrackers and rocks at police officers. In the ensuing commotion, the police is alleged to have retaliated against peaceful protest participants.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Anti-government movement
Some pundits have made claims that the agent provocateurs were actually doing GERB's bidding, with the heads of police and the Interior Ministry deliberately attempting to spark a confrontation. President Rosen Plevneliev was booed at during his speech at the Levski Monument. For the first time in history civilians were not allowed to lay flowers at the site. The number of demonstrators in Varna was around 8,000.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Anti-government movement
On 20 February, on the 11th day of the protests, Boyko Borisov announced that his cabinet would resign, expressing shock due to the violent scenes between protesters and police that he had witnessed and stating that he would never feel comfortable remaining in charge when there is such tension between regular citizens and police. The resignation was put to a vote in Parliament on the next morning, with 209 MPs voting "for" and 5 "against". A rally gathered in front of the Parliament building in support of Borisov and his government during the debates. Information surfaced in the media that the rally was staged, although GERB's press centre denied the allegations. Borisov expressed gratitude to his sympathizers, but also requested them to discontinue further demonstrations, so that social harmony is not compromised.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Anti-government movement
According to analysis conducted by the information agency BGNES, Borisov is the first Bulgarian prime minister (since Zhan Videnov in 1997) to step down due to hunger fuelled discontent and protests related to the general state of the economy.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Anti-government movement
The assessments of political scientists and sociologists regarding Borisov's choice to relinquish power have been mixed. Evgeniy Daynov was critical, maintaining that the timing and the way in which Borisov went about his decision were ill-chosen, creating the impression of a weak and indecisive leader in addition to allowing him to refrain from addressing potentially valid demands. Others such as Kantcho Stoychev characterized it as the only correct and wise move given the difficult circumstances and were optimistic regarding Borisov's chances to retain his influence in politics and continue to work for the betterment of the country.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Anti-government movement
Boriana Dimitrova and other analysts emphasized that Borisov's resignation was reflective of a good intuitive reading of the situation and caught analysts, political parties and even the protesters themselves by surprise, with the forces in opposition suffering from their own legitimacy issues which would make them ill-equipped to provide quick solutions to the systemic crisis. In Nikolov's contention, the stepping down of Borisov essentially turned the social crisis into a political one. Klisarov has ascribed more cynical motives to Borisov's quick resignation, viewing it largely as a matter of preserving GERB's power base and the particized status quo.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Anti-government movement
Throughout the crisis Borisov retained the support of the European People's Party and he was endorsed by them for the 2013 parliamentary elections.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Post-resignation actions
Initiative committees by citizens form around the country. On 23 February coordinators of demonstrations gathered in Sliven to discuss further actions after the resignation of the government. Several members of different political parties who were present at the gathering were expelled. Demands for a change of the political system, a ban on all political parties in power, abolishment of value added tax on electricity production and state ownership of natural resources and strategic sectors were added to the original calls for nationalisation of the power companies.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Post-resignation actions
TIM, a semi-legal company, was reported to have organised a crackdown on an initiative committee gathering in Varna. Protesters holding banners against TIM are alleged to have been beaten, with the police choosing not to intervene. The "Rakovski Legion", an organisation of military officers and supporters of the Bulgarian Army, have joined the protests.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Post-resignation actions
International demonstrations occurred 24 February in all major Bulgarian cities, as well as in Vienna, Munich, Paris, London, Barcelona, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Athens, Berlin, Madrid, Dublin and many other major cities all over the world, where the Bulgarian diaspora gathered in front of the Bulgarian embassies and consulates. IMRO leaders organized a march in the capital on that day and joined the demonstrations. President Rosen Plevneliev met with some of the protesters in Sofia and was presented with a list of demands. Non


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Post-resignation actions
-mainstream nationalist organizations such as the Bulgarian National Front (Bulgarian: Български Национален Фронт) and Bulgarian National Union (Bulgarian: Български национален съюз) have also been supportive of the demonstrations, while sharply distancing themselves from what they view as anti-patriotic entities such as the Open Institute and the Bulgarian Helsinki Committee. The protest wave subsequently continued, albeit with a lower intensity.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Post-resignation actions
Gatherings of citizen committees were scheduled to move to Plovdiv in response to Interior Minister in resignation Tsvetan Tsvetanov's accusations that protest leaders belong to organised crime and drug smuggling circles. Yanko Petrov, a protest coordinator, explained in an interview that members of the committees expect to be framed for drug distribution by the authorities. Borisov has been critical of the role played by BSP and MRF during the protests, believing them to have made use of the discontent among the poor in order to topple his government.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Post-resignation actions
He has also expressed disappointment with some of the media, who had allegedly been overly praiseworthy of him (in order to be able to discredit him with the European Union by creating the false impression that they were under his control) before changing their tune. Borisov also revealed that the protests against his government may have been a factor in the postponement of Bulgaria's entry into the Schengen Area.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Post-resignation actions
In late February 2013, doctors and medical personnel also voiced dissatisfaction, demanding an urgent meeting with Rosen Plevneliev, due to the limits on their freedom to practice their occupation and see patients that had been imposed by the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF).


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Post-resignation actions
In March 2013, Sergei Stanishev accused the Borisov government of monitoring the e-mail accounts and text messages of the protest leaders.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Post-resignation actions
On 4 March, a protest tent city was erected in front of the National Parliament by some of the Eagles' Bridge protesters.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Escalation, Post-resignation actions
The early elections did not bring about political stability or increased trust in the political institutions of the country. By the end of July 2013, anti-government protesters but this time against the new government of Plamen Oresharski were still out in force, protesting peacefully in Sofia, with Reuters recording the 24 July 2013 as the 41st straight day of peaceful protests. The protesters were demanding the resignation of the Socialist-led government of Oresharski and more than 100 lawmakers, ministers and journalists spent the night besieged inside parliament before police evacuated them. Boyko Borisov returned to power as Prime Minister in November 2014 after his party won the 2014 Bulgarian parliamentary election, forming a coalition government.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Public reactions to the protests
While the anti-monopoly and anti-austerity protests enjoyed a high degree of popular support (with over 90% of Bulgarian citizens expressing approval of them in a Gallup poll prior to Borisov's resignation and 77% lauding them in a summer 2013 poll administered by the same company), there was less of a consensus regarding the exact culpability of the Borisov cabinet, with 47% demanding that Boyko Borisov stepped down and 39% believing that he did not need to tender his resignation.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Public reactions to the protests
Alpha Research provided figures suggesting an even greater parity in viewpoints, with 50% approving of Borisov's resignation and 47% disagreeing with the Prime Minister's decision. As a result of this, public enthusiasm for continued demonstrations remained high (around 70%) in the aftermath of Borisov's announcement that he did not intend to stay on. Alpha Research (in its regular survey administered in the period between 22 March and 27 March), confirmed that over 90% of Bulgarians declare support for economically-oriented demands (though only about 20% would be inclined to back up manifestly political ones).


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Public reactions to the protests
Accordingly, a higher proportion of respondents - 67% - credited the protests for bringing about economic changes (like the reduction in electricity prices), with the number of those well-disposed towards the political transformations as a result of the demonstrations (such as the preliminary elections) a lower one - 47%. 55% expressed full approval for the "voice of the street", while 38% were partially supportive of street protests. 14% of Bulgarian citizens affirmed that they would cast their vote for a "protest party".


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Public reactions to the protests
Surveys generally indicated a higher support for the anti-monopoly protests among younger people in the smaller cities, as opposed to those in Sofia or Plovdiv. Varna constituted the major exception, with the protests labeled by Anna Krasteva as the Varna Spring.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Public reactions to the protests
Young people as well as the age cohorts between 30-44 and 45-59 constituted a substantial percentage of those who took part in the protest marches. Elderly people were much more visible in the ranks of the protesters in comparison to previous demonstrations for environmental causes. People with primary or no education were almost absent during the protest activities. Self-identified BSP and MRF sympathizers did not have a significant presence at the demonstrations, with 3.5% and 3.3% respectively declaring to have participated in them. 7.45% of self-described GERB supporters were at some point in the streets during the protest activities (presumably only in the initial anti-monopoly phase of the demonstrations). Members of the nationalist Attack had an active involvement in the demonstrations.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Public reactions to the protests
Even though the February crisis has been described as "an element in the political strategy of BSP", in the immediate aftermath of the protests, electoral support for GERB actually went up (in part due to increased consolidation within the party and mobilization of its voters), with the most recent party in governance increasing its lead over BSP in comparison to the standings in January. The Attack benefited the most as a result of the accumulated protest potential, raising its electoral appeal from 1.9% to 5.5%.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Political events
The Prime Minister Boyko Borisov resigned in response to the protests.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Political events
On 6 March 2013, mayor of Varna, Kiril Yordanov, also announced his resignation, triggered by the anti-government protest wave in general and the self-immolation of Plamen Goranov in particular. The government (while still formally in charge of the country) declared 6 March to be a day of national mourning.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Political events
President Rosen Plevneliev was tasked with giving a mandate to one of the major political parties to form a caretaker government. GERB, the Socialist Party and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms returned the mandate. Early elections became scheduled to take place on 12 May 2013. The caretaker government under Marin Raykov assumed power on 13 March, on the same day in which the date for the early elections was set. It attracted criticism from the Attack party, which questioned its impartiality, regarding it as an instrument of GERB that could help hide any evidence of the former governing party's alleged abuses of power. Businessman and direct democracy proponent Petar Klisarov labeled the Raykov government as "GERB's "B" team".


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Political events
In March 2013, Rosen Plevneliev approached protest organizers to form a public advisory body that would operate together with the caretaker government, but there was a breakdown in the talks. Plevneliev and the main political parties have been blamed by some sources for allegedly only feigning interest in the protesters' concerns and not acting to change the electoral rules prior to the Parliament's dissolution.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Political events
On 16 March, a number of the protesters established the political movement "Liberation" (Bulgarian: политическо движение „Освобождение”) with the intention of taking part in the upcoming elections.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Political events
In the Parliamentary election in May, all major parties, especially the ruling GERB, received a severe blow (despite obtaining the highest number of popular votes and seats in the National Assembly), with the notable exception of the Socialist Party, which got a major boost in both votes and seats. Due to GERB's political isolation and what Borisov characterized as "his unwillingness to take part in unprincipled coalitions", the party did not attempt to form a government by subjecting its chosen cabinet to a vote in the National Assembly and the president passed on the baton to BSP. The citizen energy generated as a result of the February protests did not lead to a high voter turnout and the election campaign is evaluated as having remained largely insulated from the protests, with no political movement incorporating a significant number of protester demands emerging as an electoral challenger.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Political events
Leading figures of the party Bulgaria Without Censorship (Bulgarian: "България без цензура"), which was officially established on 25 January 2014, have made statements suggesting that the majority of the February protesters eventually flocked to them. Angel Slavchev, dubbed as one of the "faces of the February demonstrations", started his own show on the News7 channel, which was regarded as closely affiliated with Barekov's party. Slavchev also took part in the 2014 European elections on the ticket of Barekov's party, though he is no longer affiliated with BWS after criticizing the party leader and being expelled in July 2014.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Repercussions in the energy sector
On the day before its resignation, the government announced that it would revoke ČEZ's licence. Following the statement, the Bulgarian Stock Exchange suspended trading in the shares of ČEZ and its subordinate companies. The company's shares declined for several consecutive days on the Prague Stock Exchange. In early March 2013, mayor Rositsa Yanakieva revealed that 288 separate lawsuits against ČEZ (pertaining to disputes surrounding the ownership of power substations) had been filed by the Pernik municipality.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Repercussions in the energy sector
Two weeks after the government announced its resignation (but before it had taken effect), the Electricity Systems Operator announced that the total energy production in the country was estimated at well below 50% of the full capacity, with the country's second-largest power station, the Varna TPP, having been completely shut down. This was surprising for people who had been paying high bills.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Repercussions in the energy sector
A week later, the energy minister Delyan Dobrev revealed that energy contracts signed by previous governments in 2002 and 2005 contained secret clauses about the construction and exploitation of the Maritza East 1 and Maritza East 3 power stations, totalling over 13 billion BGN (nearly 7 billion euro). Dobrev said that, according to the clauses, the American companies AES and ContourGlobal, which own the power stations, would receive a guaranteed minimum monthly sum of money from customers, whether they were using electricity or not. On 14 November 2013, the Commission for Energy and Water Regulation (Bulgarian: Комисия за енергийно и водно регулиране) discontinued the procedure of revoking the license of ČEZ Electro Bulgaria.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Repercussions in the energy sector
Many of the problems in the energy sector that triggered the protests remain unsolved as of September 2014. National Electric Company continues to accumulate deficits, demanding further rises in the consumer prices of electricity. A large part of the NEC deficit comes from the long-term contracts of renewable energy producers and AES Maritza East 1.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Effects on political protests outside of Bulgaria
The wave of government change from Bulgaria went as far as Slovenia, where the government was forced to resign as a result of similar protests by the Slovenian people affected by the Slovenian government austerity measures. At the end of February demonstrations against high electricity prices occurred in Estonia, following the Bulgarian example.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Analysis and political commentary
The demonstrations have been characterized as an authentic expression of the desperation of the less affluent Bulgarians, to a large extent motivated by feelings of absolute and relative deprivation and as being dominated by socially oriented demands, associated with the traditional left. While some analysts have labeled them a "revolt of the poor", others have regarded the people from the middle class social stratum (specifically the now defunct citizen movement "Power" (Bulgarian: гражданско движение СИЛА), members of which had organized demonstrations in Sandanski and Blagoevgrad, as the driving force behind the early unrest.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Analysis and political commentary
Politician Edvin Sugarev has criticized a number of media sources, especially Bivol, for publishing unproven information about Borisov's alleged links with the Ministry of the Interior's CSBOP (Bulgarian: ЦСБОП), where the Prime Minister is purported to have worked as an informer (his file was supposedly called the "Buda dossier"), which he sees as having played a pivotal role in the radicalization of the protest by turning the anger away from the monopolism of energy companies and against Borisov.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Analysis and political commentary
He compared the situation to the atmosphere in January 1997 (but this time with BSP reaping dividends from it), an opinion shared by Evgeniy Daynov who also drew parallels with the 1990 protests in terms of the volatility of the situation. According to the French ambassador to Bulgaria, Philippe Autié, the protests stemmed from a lack of sufficient trust in the political class and Bulgarian elites as in general as well as the ability of "private and non-transparent stakeholders" to frequently hijack and negatively affect the post-1989 transition processes.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Analysis and political commentary
Political scientist Vasil Garnizov similarly regards the protests as reflective of the widespread societal sentiment that there is something wrong when it comes to the political and economic structuring of society (as well as the links between the political and economic spheres) - this attitude is thought to have been pervasive since the early 1990s. The need for increased citizen control over political decision-making has also been identified as a key (but sometimes forgotten) demand of the protest movement.


2013 Bulgarian protests against the first Borisov cabinet, Analysis and political commentary
Parvan Simeonov sees the fall-out from the February protests as in indication that the second Bulgarian party system after 1989 (the charismatic one that followed the bipolar model of the 1990s), which began with Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha and continued with Borisov, has now come to an end.