In the beginning of September 2006 Transparency International - Bulgaria announced its initiative to monitor the financing of the presidential election campaign in Bulgaria. The main objective of the campaign is to exercise civil control and to encourage the participants in the political process to observe the principles of transparency, accountability and integrity in the financing of political activity.

Immediately after the formal start of the election campaign on 19 September 2006, Transparency International - Bulgaria sent an invitation letter to all of the registered candidates for president and vice-president to join the initiative. The letter included as attached files projects for an Integrity Declaration, a Donation Contract and Monitoring Implementation Rules. The purpose of these documents was to provide information about the monitoring, as well as to engage the candidates to abide by the Bulgarian legislation and the accepted international standards of election campaign financing.

At present – two weeks after the start of the election campaign – none of the registered candidates for president and vice-president of Bulgaria has provided any answer.

Transparency International - Bulgaria is deeply concerned by the apparent lack of willingness of the candidates to grant official access to civil society organizations to information, regarding the financing of the present presidential election campaign. Transparency International - Bulgaria considers the lack of response on the proposed initiative as an indicator for the continuingly low level of transparency in political financing in Bulgaria.