Bulgaria held parliamentary elections last Sunday, the fifth in two years. According to the results of the exit polls, five or six parties will enter the parliament. By a wide margin from the rest, the alliance of liberal parties “Continue Changes – Democratic Bulgaria” (PP – DB) and the right-wing conservative GERB party are in the lead. Each has approximately 25% of the vote, reports France-Presse (AFP) on April 3.
As of Monday morning, after processing almost 87% of the ballots, the election results are as follows: GERB – 26.59%, PP-DB – 24.54%, Vozrozhdenie – 14.48%, DPS – 13.05% , “BSP for Bulgaria” – 9%, “There are such people” – 4.21%.
The first official results of the vote are to be released later this Monday. Up to six parties claim to overcome the threshold of 4% to enter the parliament. The creation of a coalition government is inevitable, since not a single political association has enlisted the support of the majority of voters.
Two parties that previously formed the government are leading by a wide margin from their competitors. More than 26% of the votes are received by the center-right conservative party “Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria” (GERB), led by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov , who has been prime minister for more than 10 years .
Its main rival, the alliance of the liberal parties “Continue Change” and “Democratic Bulgaria” (PP-DB), is gaining about 25% of the vote. The representative of this coalition, Kiril Petkov, served as head of government, but for only a few months in 2022. His government had to resign as a result of a vote of no confidence initiated by the GERB party.
The pro-Russian Vazrazhdane (Renaissance) party, the Democratic Party of Socialists representing the Turkish minority (DPS) and the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) also enter parliament.
The populist project of the Bulgarian comedian Slavi Trifonov a “There are such a people” is close to overcoming the four percent barrier.
The parties that have entered parliament will have to negotiate a coalition government. In the past two years, no elections have succeeded in forming a workers’ government. The country continues to suffer from corruption and rising inflation, with voters showing signs of deep apathy. The turnout in these elections was below 40%.
Observers place a share of responsibility for political instability in the country on the incumbent President Rumen Radev , who is close to the Bulgarian Socialist Party. Although formally his position assumes only representative functions, but in the conditions of a political crisis, his influence is growing.
The issue of military support for Ukraine also causes great controversy in Bulgarian society . A frankly pro-Russian position is taken by the Vozrozhdeniye party, which is in third place. The Bulgarian Socialist Party, which entered the parliament, as well as President Radev himself, also oppose the supply of weapons.
Source: EurAsia Daily
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