According to current forecasts, the second parliamentary election in Bulgaria in three months will be a tight result. Contrary to initial estimates, two polling institutes saw the populist ITN party of the entertainer Slavi Trifonov with 23.4 to 24 percent of the vote and thus a narrow lead over the party of ex-Prime Minister Boiko Borissow. Borisov’s bourgeois GERB would come to 22.9 to 23.5 percent according to the information. The votes of Bulgarians abroad in 68 countries are likely to be decisive for the end result.
According to current forecasts, the socialists (ex-KP) would come to 13.3 to 14.2 percent. The conservative-liberal-green anti-corruption coalition Democratic Bulgaria DB could also make third place. Six political forces are likely to move into the parliament in Sofia. The polling stations are closed at 8 p.m. on Sunday evening. The official final results should only be available within four days.
The new election had become necessary because the divided parties could not agree on a coalition government after the April 4th vote. An interim cabinet made up of representatives of the anti-GERB camp, set up by the head of state Rumen Radew, is currently in power in Sofia.
Borisov’s former coalition government came under massive criticism after the current transitional government uncovered numerous grievances, corruption practices and failures. Corruption is a protracted problem for Bulgaria: Since joining the EU in 2007, the country has been under special observation from Brussels. The parties of the anti-Borisov camp accuse Borisov of corrupt administration and exclude a coalition with his GERB party. They are therefore counting on votes for the parties that campaign for the fight against corruption and the reform of the judiciary.
After the parliamentary elections in April, the formation of a government in Bulgaria’s fragmented parliament failed. The conservative GERB party of long-time Prime Minister Boyko Borrisow’s emerged as the strongest force in the election despite allegations of corruption. But she had not been able to find a majority in parliament. The populist anti-establishment party ITN came in second and the socialists, the third strongest, failed in their attempts to form a government. Even after this election, forming a new government could be complicated.