Rewriting Article 1 of the Bulgarian Constitution

In Bulgaria, the Communist Party led the movement toward democratic change. Following the legalization of several other political parties, the Bulgarian Communist Party (BCP) introduced legal reforms to the Bulgarian government. One of the most significant and notable of these changes was rewriting Article 1 of the Bulgarian constitution, which guaranteed a "leading role" for the Communist Party in all aspects of Bulgaria. In principle, this would allow other political parties to attain a majority in the Bulgarian government, potentially replacing the Communists in power. However, in practice this was part of the attempt of the Communist Party to remain in power by presenting itself as the advocate of democratic change. The positive changes are included in this dispatch from the U.S. Embassy in Bulgaria, but so is the Embassy's suspicion of the political actions of both the Communists and the Agrarian Party, which were acting in coordination.