Elections in Bulgaria: a new government on the third attempt?

A new parliament will be elected in Bulgaria today – for the third time this year. So that there is finally a government, many Bulgarians are counting on a new party made up of two Harvard graduates.

“We are aiming for number one, we have a good chance,” says Assen Wassilew, co-chair of the new reform party. “We are continuing the change.” Everything depends on the turnout. “A high turnout is really good for us, so we encourage as many people as possible to vote.”

Of all the political start-ups after the mass protests of summer 2020, which were directed against the rampant corruption under the then Prime Minister Boiko Borissow, the party “We continue the change” of the two ex-interim ministers Kiril Petkov and Vasilev has realistic chances.

Notoriety through the fight against corruption

Petkov and Vasilev, 41 and 44 years old, both Harvard graduates, both entrepreneurs, were economics and finance ministers in the interim government after the first unsuccessful elections in April and became known nationwide for their crackdown on corruption under former long-term prime minister Boiko Borisov.

“People have recognized two things: first, that we are able to uncover such things, and second, that we are not afraid. That was a difference to everything they have seen so far,” said Petkow of the reasons for the rise of the party, which was only founded in September.

Polls put Petkov and Vasilev in second place

The latest polls put them in second place with around 16 percent of the vote, behind the national-conservative GERB party of Borissov and just ahead of the socialists. Many supporters of the new reform party are counting on the two young, western-style economic and financial experts Petkow and Wassilew succeeding in forming a coalition after the elections.

“You not only present a strategy, but also say how we will achieve certain results. And that is very important for us Bulgarians,” says a woman on the street in Sofia. And a 75-year-old pensioner who had worked as a translator formulated almost exactly the prognosis that professional political experts in Bulgaria also predict: “If these guys finish second, they’ll be able to form a government.” If they did not become the second largest party, but the third largest after the socialists, it would be a very difficult situation.

New president is also elected

Because after the parliamentary elections in April and July, a new government coalition was not formed. None of the parties represented in parliament wanted to cooperate with Borisov’s GERB; It had become too obvious to what extent corruption was rampant under the previous Borisov government. President Rumen Radew appointed an interim government after each failed attempt.

In addition to the parliamentary elections, there will also be presidential elections today. Radew is standing for re-election, who was nominated as ex-Air Force General by the Socialists at the end of 2016 and was elected in the second ballot. He is considered a domestic political opponent of Borisov and had clearly sided with the demonstrators during the protests last summer. If Radew receives less than 50 percent in the first ballot, the runoff election with the runner-up will take place next Sunday.