In a surprise move the ruling Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) has decided to place Foreign Minister Ivailo Kalfin at the top of its elections ticket in the June 7 2009 elections for Bulgarian members of European Parliament, BSP's spokesperson Kornelia Ninova told reporters on May 12 2009 after a session of the BSP's executive bureau.

The decision was unexpected because a number of statements given by BSP top officials in the past months indicated that BSP's current MEP Kristian Vigenin would most likely top the list as he did in 2007 when Bulgaria had its first ever MEPs elections.

Kalfin is not even a BSP member and for most of his term in office has kept his distance from BSP's internal affairs.

He became Foreign Minister in 2005 as a member of BSP's coalition partner Political Movement Social Democrats. The latter's leader Nikolai Kamov, was expelled from the BSP group in Parliament after supporting a no confidence vote against the Government of BSP leader Sergei Stanishev in 2008.

Before 2005 Kalfin worked as an adviser to President Georgi Purvanov, the former leader of the BSP.

As leader of the BSP ticket for the MEPs elections, Kalfin would face Meglena Kouneva, EU commissionaire for consumer protection, who heads the ticket of BSP's current coalition partner, the National Movement for Stability and Progress (NMSP).

When Kouneva was chosen to lead the NMSP ticket, party officials said that she would probably decide to run for a second term as EU commissionaire.

Now the media are speculating that the BSP is minded to nominate Kalfin for the post after the elections.

According to Ninova, the choice of Kalfin was based on his experience in EU affairs and the fact that he was well known in the European Parliament.

As for the BSP's current MEPs - Vigenin, Iliyana Yotova, Evgenii Kirilov, Atanas Paparizov and Marousya Luybcheva - Ninova said that they would be well represented on the ticket.

"Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev praised their work in European Parliament so far and said that the choice of Kalfin should not be taken as criticism of them," Ninova said.

The final decision on the BSP's ticket will be taken on May 13 2009.