Today is the first sitting of the 45^th National Assembly elected on April 4. If we look for the symbolism in the choice of the date - April 15, we will see that it is framed by two important events related to the history of Bulgarian parliamentarism.

On April 14, 1876, in the Oborishte locality near Panagyurishte, the first national assembly was convened. At it, the defenders of Bulgarian freedom decided to declare an uprising for the liberation of the country from the Ottoman rule.

Only three years later, on April 17, 1879, in Tarnovo, the first Grand National Assembly was convened, as a continuation of the Constituent Assembly (February 10, 1879 - April 16, 1879), which adopted the basic law of the country for the next 68 years - the Tarnovo Constitution. The assembly was presided by the Bulgarian Exarch Antim I.

In more recent times, tradition dictates that the first sitting of each new parliament be chaired by the oldest member of parliament. After 1989, this honour was bestowed to a number of prominent public figures, including poet Yosif Petrov, historian Andrey Pantev, actors Kosta Tsonev and Stefan Danailov…

Today, the responsibility to open the 45^th Bulgarian Parliament lies with Mika Zaykova, elected MP from the list of the party "There is such a people" (ITN). She has been a longtime economic adviser in the Podkrepa Labour Confederation and is the doyen of the current parliament at the age of 79. The youngest member of the National Assembly is Sasho Savov, a 25-year-old economist who entered with preferences from the GERB list in Haskovo.

The 45^thNational Assembly includes 6 parties. The largest will be the parliamentary group of GERB-SDS with 75 deputies, followed by "There is such a people" (ITN) - with 51, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) - with 43, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) - with 30, Democratic Bulgaria - with 27 and "Stand up! Thugs out!”- with 14.

The solemn first sitting will take place in the historic building of the National Assembly on the square of the same name in Sofia. This was agreed upon by representatives of all parliamentary political formations, except GERB.

We are also hours apart from the moment when the president has to start political consultations with the parties represented in parliament about their readiness to form the next cabinet. The head of state has the right to hand over three trial mandates. It remains to be seen with which of them the new government will be formed.