Bulgarian President Rumen Radev officially stepped down on January 23 after the Constitutional Court confirmed his resignation, becoming the country’s first head of state to resign and setting the stage for his expected entry into party politics ahead of snap parliamentary elections.

Radev left the presidency a year before the end of his second term, suggesting he was ready to take his fight against what he has long described as a “corrupt, mafia-like” political class into the electoral arena.

“Today was my last day as president and my first as a citizen who, like all Bulgarians, believes that together we can change Bulgaria,” Radev told a crowd of supporters and journalists outside the presidential administration, according to news agency BTA.

Earlier on January 23, the Constitutional Court ruled that Radev’s presidential powers would terminate with immediate effect. Under the constitution, Vice President Iliana Yotova assumed the role of head of state for the remainder of the term, becoming the first woman to hold the post in Bulgaria’s history.

Radev announced his intention to resign in a televised address on January 19, stating that political paralysis and public anger over corruption made early parliamentary elections unavoidable. Bulgaria is now heading towards its eighth election since 2021.

The country has been without a regular government since Prime Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov resigned on December 11, 2025, following nationwide protests over corruption and a disputed budget proposal. His coalition, which took office only in January 2025 after months of negotiations, fell amid public outrage over perceived oligarchic influence, including the role of businessman Delyan Peevski, who is sanctioned by the United States under the Magnitsky Act.

Radev, a former commander of the Bulgarian Air Force, was first elected president in 2016 and re-elected in 2021. Over nearly a decade in office, he has emerged as one of the most powerful and popular figures in Bulgarian politics, appointing seven caretaker governments amid repeated parliamentary deadlock.

In recent years, he has increasingly portrayed himself as the sole authentic representative of public anger against the political establishment, a message that dominated his resignation speech and was widely seen as an informal campaign launch.

Opinion polls suggest Radev enters party politics from a position of strength. A Market Links survey published on January 12 put his approval rating at 44%, compared with 34% disapproval. A December poll by Alpha Research showed trust in most political leaders languishing in single digits, while Radev retained the highest rating at 35%.

Despite the momentum, details of his political project remain scarce. Anton Kutev, a former adviser to Radev, said on January 24 that Radev’s anticipated new party was not yet ready, Mediapool reported.

Critics have accused the former president of offering rhetoric rather than substance. Denitsa Sacheva, deputy floor leader of the former ruling party, GERB-UDF, said on Bulgarian National Television that Radev had yet to present concrete proposals, describing his appeal as “a bubble” of empty hopes.

Radev’s resignation and anticipated entry into party politics is likely to upend Bulgaria’s already fragmented political landscape. Whether he can translate personal popularity into an effective party organisation – and whether he can deliver on promises to “change Bulgaria” – remains uncertain.