On June 17, 2001, Bulgarians will go to the polls to vote in parliamentary elections. In this final week of the pre-election period, NDI's resident representatives in Sofia take to the road to provide insight on the elections. This Issue focuses on the eastern Bulgaria, specifically Varna, Silistra, and Yambol. All eyes shifted to eastern Bulgaria this week, as an interview with Tsar Simeon in Varna prompted comment on possible coalition partners, should the Tsar-led political movement win a plurality of seats in Sunday's Parliamentary election (as predicted by current polls). Noting that, "the governing party or Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) are our possible allies," the Tsar reiterated his ticket's commitment to reform and the fight against poverty and corruption. PARTY CAMPAIGNS IN VARNA Varna is the third largest city in Bulgaria, and the administrative center for a district which elects 14 deputies, the largest number for any of Bulgaria's 31 districts. In 1997 parliamentary elections, the Varna district returned seven deputies from the Union of Democratic Forces, three Euroleft, two Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), and a single deputy from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms. This year, the governing Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) nominated Foreign Minister Nadezhda Mihaylova as the first candidate on the UDF Varna list. Mihaylova, Bulgaria's most respected politician, and widely credited with the European Union's recent decision to rescind visa requirements for Bulgarian citizens, campaigned in Varna Tuesday and Wednesday. Reinforcing the UDF's message that they are the only party with, "the will to go on," Mihaylova also warned citizens not to fall victim to a "pyramid of illusion," a subtle effort to link historic pyramid schemes (in which 50,000 Varna people lost life savings) with the Tsar's grand promises of economic relief. Though part of an overall campaign to discredit the Tsar, Mihaylova's words were well suited to Varna, where the Tsar's promises have taken on a life of their own. One UDF candidate recounted to NDI how a hospital cleaning claimed that the Tsar would bring $3 billion in Kuwaiti investment into Bulgaria. For their part, the National Movement Tsar Simeon (NMS) campaign headquarters in Varna seem preoccupied with concerns about the conduct of the elections in Varna polling stations, and are focused on training their own party poll watchers. One notable change in the election this year is that the candidate lists reflect parties' efforts to recruit respected local leaders for prominent positions on their district slate.* For example, the first UDF candidate in Silistra, was referred to as the most respected businessman in the region; he manages a family fabric export factory and employs 1,000 area residents. The Coaltion for Bulgaria led its list in the district surrounding Polvdiv with a world-renown computer scientist at the University in Plovdiv. ROCK THE VOTE CONCERT ENERGIZES YOUTH GOTV EFFORTS IN VARNA Maximizing the momentum generated by a rock-the-vote concert in Varna on June 7, Ti Izbirash volunteers kicked into high gear for the last week of the campaign. Teams of volunteers from the Bulgarian Association for Fair Elections (BAFE) continued canvassing student dormitories, while other BAFE volunteers created a contact list based on the information they had gathered from hundreds of tickets at the Varna concert. Around the country, BAFE clubs are using phones and cell phones to remind younger voters to go to the polls. Making the most of Bulgarian youths' cell phone habits, BAFE will also use "Messaging," (a popular method of sending text messages to mobile phones) to remind this constituency to get out and vote on Election Day. WOMEN IN YAMBOL AND SILISTRA ORGANIZED AND READY TO VOTE As part of its cross-country circuit, the Ti Izbirash bus tour stopped in Yambol and Silistra, where coalition partners had recently organized voter education and GOTV events targeting Bulgarian women. In the southeastern city of Yambol, the Women's Alliance for Development (WAD) organized an Arts and Jazz Event at the local cultural center. One hundred attendees relaxed in the center's outdoor patio (decorated with GOTV literature and posters) listening to local entertainers while high school theatre groups presented mini-monologues and persuasive literature that WAD had designed to appeal to women. Local and national media were present to cover the event.** Earlier in the week, women in Silistra (a city on the Danube) kicked off a series of candidate forums, youth events, and voter education meetings with a boat outing for 60 women. Meeting below deck to discuss a variety of reasons women should vote, the conversation focused primarily on ensuring a future for the children of Bulgaria - an issue particularly close to the hearts of mothers in Silistra, which has seen ever increasing emigration. Attendees received literature and shared ideas about motivating women to vote. This evening, the Ti Izbirash bus tour returns to Sofia just in time for a final Sofia Rock the Vote concert.