Constitution obsolete, and the BKP was anxious to discard those elements
that party ideologists considered bourgeois.

Structurally the Constitution of 1947 consisted of eleven chapters and
101 articles without a preamble. It proclaimed Bulgaria a people's
republic with a representative form of government to be implemented by
universal suffrage of citizens eighteen years of age and over.

The constitution established the National Assembly as the supreme organ
of the state power and the Council of Ministers as the supreme executive
and administrative organ. During the twenty-four-year span of the 1947
Constitution, the Presidium of the National Assembly actually wielded
more power than its parent organization or the Council of Ministers,
even though such power was not ascribed to it in the Constitution. The
power of the presidium derived from the BKP positions concurrently held
by its members.

Legislative power was vested in a unicameral legislature, the National
Assembly, which was elected for a term of four years. Assembly
representatives were elected by the people on the basis of one
representative for every 30,000 people; amended in 1961 to 25,000.
Representatives served terms of four years but could be recalled at any
time before the expiration of their terms. The constitution required the
assembly to meet twice a year and on other occasions as required by its
presidium, which met in continuous session.

The many functions of the National Assembly included electing the
presidium, Supreme Court judges, and the chief prosecutor; appointing
the Council of Ministers; amending the constitution; granting amnesties;
deciding the holding of referenda; voting on the general economic plan;
settling questions of war and peace; and other legislative matters of
nationwide application.

Within the assembly the presidium--consisting of a president, two vice
presidents, a secretary, and fifteen members--was empowered with
legislative-executive authority, and it exercised judicial power in the
interpretation of laws that were binding on everyone. More importantly,
the presidium assumed the powers and functions of the National Assembly
when the latter was not in session. In effect, the small presidium
exercised the legislative function most of the time.

Executive and administrative direction was vested in the Council of
Ministers, a cabinet elected by the National Assembly. The council
consisted of a chairman, several deputy