Sofia, Bulgaria — a centre-left coalition led by bulgaria former president of rumen radev Hours after polls closed on Sunday, an exit poll showed the parliamentary election would be won. This list is unlikely to garner enough votes to govern alone, which could drag on for years in political life Deadlock in EU country.
Sunday’s election was the country’s eighth in five years, reflecting a weak political situation The impasse that has gripped this Balkan nation. Preliminary results are expected on Monday.
The poll, conducted by Trend Research Group, showed that Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria has earned 39.2% support, overtaking the centre-right GERB party of its veteran leader Boyko Borissov, who is expected to get 15.1% of the vote. Despite the huge difference between the two groups, the projected percentage may not be enough for Radev to form a one-party government, and he will face the difficult task of finding partners to govern.
Exit polls also estimated that voter turnout stood at 43.4%, and that six parties could cross the 4% threshold to enter the fractured parliament.
After the announcement of the preliminary estimates Radev said that “we will do our best to avoid going to re-election”.
“This (new elections) would be a disaster for Bulgaria,” he said. “It will mean moving from one crisis to another, when we will have to work very hard to emerge from these crises.”
The snap vote took place after the resignation of the Conservative-led government. Nationwide protests last December Which attracted hundreds of thousands of people, mainly youth, to the streets. Protesters demanded an independent judiciary to deal with widespread corruption.
If confirmed in official figures, a victory for Radev’s coalition could potentially bring to power a left-leaning leader who is seen by critics as pro-Russian. Last weekend, Hungarian voters rejected authoritarian policies and the global far-right movement of Viktor Orbán, who has forged close ties with the Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Radev resigned Most formal chair in Januaryto launch a bid to lead the government as Prime Minister, just months before the end of his second term.
The 62-year-old former fighter pilot and Air Force commander has promised to give a new beginning to the country. His supporters are divided over those who expect him to root out corruption among the country’s elite and those behind his Eurosceptic and Russia-friendly views.
Radev’s popularity increased as he presented himself as an opponent of the country’s entrenched mafia and its ties to high-ranking politicians. At campaign rallies he vowed to “remove the corrupt, oligarchic model of governance from political power”.
Since 2021, the country of 6.5 million has grappled with fractured parliaments, which have produced weak governments, none of which managed to survive more than a year before falling due to street protests or backroom deals in parliament.
After Sunday’s vote, Radev said Bulgaria now had a historic chance to change its perceived oligarchic model of governance. He urged people to go to the polls because mass “voting is the only way to drown vote-buying in the ocean of free votes.”
Although Radev has officially condemned Russia’s invasion of UkraineHe has repeatedly opposed military aid to Kiev and supported re-opening talks with Russia as a way out of the conflict.
According to Mario Bikarski, senior Eastern and Central Europe analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft, Radev’s relatively vague campaign leaves him open to cooperation with almost any party in a future parliament.
Bikarski said, however, that Radev seems reluctant to enter into a formal coalition with the hard-right and openly pro-Russian Revival party.
bulgaria is a European Union and NATO member country that joined the eurozone on 1 January, shortly after entering the border-free Schengen travel area. However, it has been plagued by political instability since 2021, when Borissov – who was three-time prime minister at the time – resigned following mass protests sparked by anger over widespread corruption and injustice.
