THE PRINCIPALITY OF BULGARIA At the beginning of 1879, the
assembly of notables known as the Constituent Assembly of the
principality of Bulgaria was called, as provided by the Berlin
congress, to elaborate and adopt the constitution of the
country. The Russian lawyer Lukianov got down to drafting it.
Greatly influenced by the content of the Belgian constitution,
believed to be one of the most liberal statutes in the world at
that time, he cared to insert principles of broad democratic
freedoms. Two political trends came up as soon as debate opened
- a liberal and a conservative. These were to remain in
position, underlying the Bulgarian political system fight
through to the end of the 19th century. The conservatives
insisted on a stronger monarchic sovereignty supported by an
oligarchic constitution,limiting the freedom of press, meetings
and association. These demands were turned down and the draft of
the basic law that became known as the Turnovo Constitution, was
voted by. overwhelming majority. In April