Justice minister Nikolay Naydenov is waiting for a reply from acting prosecutor general Vanya Stefanova to a letter he sent on 7 October. He will decide only then whether to put his own candidate for acting prosecutor general to the plenum of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC), the ministry's press office said. See our earlier report: Magdalena Lazarova proposed as acting prosecutor general.

On 7 October, the SJC's prosecutors' panel voted to propose Magdalena Lazarova-Prodanova as acting prosecutor general. She is a deputy prosecutor general and next in seniority.

In the letter, the minister asks Stefanova for a list of all prosecutors who head a department at the Supreme Court of Cassation prosecutor's office. He also wants to know which of them agree in writing to be put forward for the post, and asks for personnel records on those who have agreed. The letter names no one.

The press office said Naydenov will decide whether to use his power, and how, only after he gets the reply. The minister can nominate a candidate but does not pick one. That decision rests with the SJC plenum.

The prosecutors' panel sought consent from only one person, which the ministry says largely decides the outcome in advance. The minister believes the law allows more than one candidate, so that the process is competitive. The ministry says this would uphold the principles of openness and accountability in the work of the prosecution service and the SJC, and that the whole of society expects such a process.

If Lazarova-Prodanova agrees, the SJC plenum will vote on her nomination. The six-month term of the current acting prosecutor general ends on 22 October 2026.