Today, 4 October, is the deadline for the registration of contenders in the presidential race in Bulgaria. On 5 October lots will be drawn to determine the numbers that will stand by candidates' names in ballots, and after that campaigning opens for the elections planned for 6 November. The vote for a head of state has certain specifics that deserve due attention.

For the first time since 1990 Bulgaria has an active head of state who is not running for a second term of office. Rosen Plevneliev has himself announced his decision not to join the race.

In case the contender of the ruling party Gerb Tsetska Tsacheva wins the elections, Bulgaria will for the first time in history have a woman president. By the way, Tsacheva is the first woman to lead the parliament of the country.

So far Bulgaria has had a retired general as vice president, and now there is the possibility of a general becoming president - in case the election is won by Rumen Radev registered as an independent candidate but supported by the Bulgarian Socialist Party. The presence of a military figure in the senior political hierarchy is to the liking of nationalists and NATO and EU sceptics, so the party Gerb has nominated for vice president Plamen Manushev, also a retired general.

A record number of steering committees, parties and coalitions have asked for registration in the race. In 2011, the pairs in the presidential elections were 21, and now they are 32. Some nominations are surprising, while others have faced mixed feelings from the public. Quite unexpectedly, the former PM Plamen Oresharski who failed to complete his mandate, has joined the race. His nomination was made by an independent steering committee though many presume that he is backed by socialist circles or by DPS, the predominantly ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms. George Ganchev is once again one of the presidential contenders. He recently stated he would run for the fourth time, just like Jacques Chirac in France. Another candidate is composer Mitko Enchev Dimitrov. The fact that he is a musician does not hurt his chances, given that in 2011 the vocalist of Hipodil Band Svetoslav Vitkov collected 1.61 percent of the vote.

This year some of the contenders for the presidency are publicly known to have had problems with the system of justice, but this is no hindrance given that the constitution does not require a clean criminal record from candidates. In this group the name of Vladimir Kuzov stands out - who has a suspended three-year sentence for pedophilia and runs together with Borislav Noev (nominated for vice president), investigated for drunk driving. Previously both were supporters of the nationalist party Ataka. Sadly related to Ataka but in a completely different way, is the independent presidential candidate Kamen Popov. At the mayoral elections in the capital last year he scandalized society as he publicly hit the leader of Ataka Volen Siderov. As a result of the incident pre-court proceedings were brought against Popov. Biser Milanov a.k.a. the Stain is an independent candidate nominated by a steering committee headed by his son. During the protests and counter-protests against the cabinet of Oresharski, Milanov was on several occasions detained by the police for provocations and calls for violence.

Whatever the personal motives of such candidates, the inevitable result of their participation in the elections will be vote scattering in favor of more serious contenders. And forecasts for serious performance, though provisional at this early stage, are mostly related to the ruling party Gerb, the three candidates of the Left, and the candidates of the rightwing Reformist Bloc and of the nationalists.

This year's pre-election situation is characterized also by the fact that foreign policy concerns have overshadowed concerns of the electorate associated with domestic problems to which criticism is moderate. This will not prevent contenders from being aggressive as they attack each other, so the campaign for the election of the new head of state is going to be very tense indeed.

English Daniela Konstantinova