We Continue the Change

We Continue the Change (Bulgarian: Продължаваме промяната, romanized: Prodalzhavame promyanata; PP), sometimes translated as Change Continues, is a centrist, anti-corruption political party and formerly an electoral alliance in Bulgaria founded by Kiril Petkov and Assen Vassilev. It was founded ahead of the November 2021 election. The party was officially registered on 15 April. The party was a ruling party in Bulgaria during the periods of Kiril Petkov's government (December 2021 –December 2022) and as part of the PP-DB alliance in the Nikolai Denkov government (June 2023 – April 2024).

The controversial third Borisov government, a coalition between the conservative GERB and the nationalist United Patriots alliance, with the support of the populist Volya Movement, sparked mass protests over corruption allegations, which led to the rise of several new parties and populist movements. At the end of the term of the National Assembly, a parliamentary election was held in April 2021, which saw the minor coalition partners fail to reach the 4% threshold. Instead, several anti-Borisov parties and electoral coalitions entered parliament (ITN, DB and IBG-NI), with a combined 92 seats. None of them were willing to form a government with any of the other “status quo” parties (BSP, GERB and DPS) and the BSP was unwilling to work with GERB. Thus, no government could be formed and a snap election was scheduled to take place in July. Bulgarian President Rumen Radev appointed an interim government.

Several ministers from the interim government became outspoken critics of Borisov and his allies. This included Interior minister Boyko Rashkov, Finance minister Assen Vassilev, Economy minister Kiril Petkov and Education minister Nikolai Denkov. The July 2021 election saw the three “protest parties” make gains to a total of 112 seats, and ITN surpassed GERB to become the winning party. However no government could be formed, and another snap election was scheduled to take place in November, alongside the presidential election. Three of the anti-Borisov interim ministers (Assen Vassilev, Kiril Petkov and Nikolai Denkov) had been offered to join ITN's government, however, they refused the offer.

Petkov and Vassilev stated that they would start their own political project that would be an alternative anti-corruption party which could be seen as a “uniting force” between the other parties. A new interim government was appointed by president Radev which did not include ministers Petkov and Vassilev. Their party was officially launched on 17 September 2021, following a month-long speculation about its creation. The two former ministers were coined the “Harvard boys” by the media, as both had been educated there.

Since the party was created too late to have its own registration, it had to compete in the elections within an electoral coalition alongside one or more registered member parties. This was done through Volt Bulgaria and Middle European Class, with the former being a party that recently left the parliamentary coalition IBG-NI.

For the 2021 presidential election, Petkov and Vassilev declared their support for the incumbent President Rumen Radev. The party favoured working with the anti-establishment parties, not in a pre-electoral coalition, but instead in the form of an agreement of cooperation following the November election. There was speculation it may join a coalition with BSP for Bulgaria. It did not rule out working with GERB–SDS or DPS, but Petkov set out harsh conditions if they were to cooperate.

In the November election, the party came out on top with over 25% of the vote and 67 of the 240 seats. It was given the mandate to form a government on 13 December 2021, and formed a broad coalition between the anti-establishment parties There Is Such a People and Democratic Bulgaria, alongside the leftist BSP for Bulgaria. The government, led by Petkov, set out to remove corruption within the country and counter the problems faced by Bulgaria, including the energy crisis and COVID-19 pandemic.

The new government included five ministers from the interim governments that preceded it - Petkov, Vassilev, Rashkov, Denkov and former prime minister Stefan Yanev. Yanev was dismissed following his refusal to label the Russian invasion of Ukraine as a war. The government became a minority government on 8 June 2022, when ITN pulled out of it. Several weeks later, it became was the first government in Bulgarian history to lose a vote of confidence. As the largest party, they were given the first mandate to form another government. Their nominee was Assen Vassilev, who returned the mandate unfulfilled. No party was able to form another government and a new election was scheduled to take place.