Bulgaria's Socialist-led coalition government suffered a severe blow in the general elections on Sunday (5 July), which saw a high turnout and a clear-cut victory for the centre-right opposition Gerb party of Sofia mayor Boiko Borisov.
Gerb, or Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria, had nearly 40 percent (39.7%) of the votes with almost all ballots counted on Monday morning, the Central Electoral Commission said on its website. The Socialists came second with barely 17.7 percent, followed by the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) at 14.5 percent, the far-right Ataka (9.4%), and the right-wing Blue Coalition (6.7%).
Mr Borisov said he would now engage in talks with the right-wing groups that have made it in the parliament – the Blue Coalition, Ataka and the Order, Lawfulness, Justice party which obtained a little over the threshold of four percent (4.13%) – in order to try and form a right-wing coalition government.
"I hope we will be able to form a government as soon as possible," Mr Borisov, likely to become the country's new prime minister, said at a press conference on Sunday night. "Taking into account the inheritance we get, I can't promise miracles in the next five or six months," he added.
Socialist government linked with EU failures
With more than four million of the almost 7 million Bulgarians eligible to vote showing up on Sunday, the turnout in these elections was over 60 percent – five percent more than the previous vote in 2005 (55.7%) and 20 percent more than the European elections one month ago (40%). The high turnout shows that "people are returning to politics," outgoing Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev told the press.
Mr Stanishev's government is credited with getting Bulgaria in the EU in January 2007, but was also strongly criticised for its failure to deal with widespread corruption in the Balkan country. The government was blamed for irreversibly losing €220 million of pre-accession EU funding last year over the persistent corruption problems, with millions more of EU money still frozen and at risk, unless Sofia delivers some results.
The vote is "political punishment" for Mr Stanishev's government and is linked to Bulgaria's "so far failed EU membership," Vladimir Shopov, an independent political analyst told EUobserver.
"It has been an important element among the so-called 'middle generation' and the young people," who massively voted for Gerb, Mr Shopov said. With Mr Borisov coming to power, a change in both the tone and the style in the government's relations with the "European partners" can now be expected, he added.
"It has been an important element among the so-called 'middle generation' and the young people," who massively voted for Gerb, Mr Shopov said. With Mr Borisov coming to power, a change in both the tone and the style in the government's relations with the "European partners" can now be expected, he added.
Euobserver
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