The Alliance for Rights and Freedoms (Bulgarian: Алианс за права и свободи, АПС, romanized: Alians za prava i svobodi, APS; Turkish: Hak ve Özgürlükler İttifakı) often known as DPS–Dogan (ДПС–Доган) or colloquially as the Doganists (Доганистите), is a Bulgarian political electoral coalition. It is chaired by Hayri Sadakov, but its common name comes from its links to the founder of the original DPS, Ahmed Dogan.
Alliance for Rights and Freedoms Алианс за права и свободи | |
|---|---|
| Abbreviation | APS |
| Parliamentary Leader | Hayri Sadakov |
| Honorary Chairman | Ahmed Dogan |
| Chairman | Taner Ali Dimitar Nikolov Sevim Ali Hayri Sadukov |
| Founders | Ahmed Dogan Dzhevdet Chakarov |
| Founded | 2 September 2024, 1 year ago |
| Registered | 11 September 2024, 1 year ago |
| Split from | Movement for Rights and Freedoms |
| Ideology |
|
| Political position | Centre |
| European Parliament group | Renew Europe |
| Colors | Blue (official) Purple (customary) |
| National Assembly | 17 / 240 |
| European Parliament | 1 / 17 |
| |
History
DPS dispute and formation
The electoral coalition was formed following a legal dispute between the joint chairmen of the DPS, Chakarov and Delyan Peevski. On 27 August 2024, Peevski and several of his allies were expelled from the party, which was linked to DPS founder and honorary chairman Ahmed Dogan. Peevski challenged the decision and argued this was unconstitutional. With the deadline to register for the October elections approaching, both the Dogan and Peevski wings made preparations to run separate coalitions.
When registration opened on 2 September, both the Dogan and Peevski coalitions were registered. Both argued they were the first, with Peevski submitting an unprecedented electronic application rather than one in person. Despite the both coalitions being registered initially, the Commission decided on 4 September that both had to prove the original party was not part of either group, something neither wing agreed to do by the 7 September deadline. On 11 September, because it was submitted first, the Supreme Administrative Court of Bulgaria ruled that the electronic application of DPS–Peevski was valid, after which DPS–Dogan changed their name and registered without claiming DPS to be a member of the alliance.
In December 2024 and February 2025 the Sofia City Court ruled that Peevski's expulsion from the party and removal as co-leader had been invalid.
In Parliament
DPS–Dogan achieved 6th place in the parliamentary elections in October 2024, receiving 19 seats. Following the election, they agreed to provide extra-governmental support to the minority government of the Zhelyazkov Government.
In March 2025, DPS–Dogan suggested they could withdraw their support for the government, and declared that they believed the government had been working with DPS–Peevski.
In May 2025, the leader of the group, Chakarov, withdrew his claim to the leadership of the original DPS, following legal pressure and a meeting with Peevski. Subsequently, on 28 May, Chakarov announced he would be leaving the DPS–Dogan group to sit as an independent. The remaining MPs of the group selected Hayri Sadakov to succeed Chakarov as chairman of the group. Over the following month, two further MPs also left to sit as independents.
In June 2025, the speaker of the National Assembly, Nataliya Kiselova, put forward proposals to strip DPS–Dogan of the 'DPS–DPS' name it uses in the National Assembly, due to its alleged conflict with electoral law. The Assembly voted on 19 June to disallow the DPS acronym and hence the name, giving them three days to decide a new one. The party refused to comply, and as such the DPS–DPS name was banned and the party would only be referred to in the Assembly under its electoral name, Alliance for Rights and Freedoms.
New party
Following the defection of Chakarov, those affiliated with DPS–Dogan set about creating a new party with a new leader. Dogan himself reportedly supports the project, but will not be a part of it. A possible name for this new formation reported is the "Movement for Unity and Justice".
On 22 July 2025, Dogan announced the beginning of a three month transition period to a new political project. In a statement regarding this, he claimed the original DPS had been 'hijacked' by Peevski.
On 11 September, plans to found a new party called Alliance for Rights and Freedoms were officially unveiled.
On 15 November, the party held its founding congress, electing Ahmed Dogan as the honorary chairman and 4 co-chairmen of the party: Taner Ali, Dimitar Nikolov, Sevim Ali and Hayri Sadukov.
Composition
The composition of DPS–Dogan at the October 2024 election was as follows:
| Party | Leader | Ideology | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) | Dzhevdet Chakarov | Liberalism Turkish minority interests | |
| Just Bulgaria United Patriots (SBOR) | Dimitar Iliev | ||
| Agrarian People's Union (ZNS) | Roumen Yonchev | Agrarianism | |
Election results
National Assembly
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 2024 | Dzhevdet Chakarov | 182,253 | 7.23 (#6) | 19 / 240 | New | Support (Jan-Apr 2025) |
| Opposition (Since Apr 2025) |
See also
- DPS – A New Beginning
wikipedia, wiki, encyclopedia, book, library, article, read, free download, Information about Alliance for Rights and Freedoms, What is Alliance for Rights and Freedoms? What does Alliance for Rights and Freedoms mean?