SOFIA, April 4 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Bulgarians vote Sunday to elect
a new parliament with Prime Minister Boyko Borisov’s centre-right party
tipped to finish first amid predictions of low turnout on pandemic fears.
Support for Borisov’s GERB party — in power almost uninterruptedly for
close to a decade now — has been eroded by a series of scandals, with
protests last summer accusing the government of protecting oligarchs.
Eve-of-ballot polls however give GERB 28-29 percent of the votes, or an
estimated 75-76 seats in the 240-seat legislature.
Three-time premier Borisov has refused all contact with the media since
the demonstrations.
Instead, he broadcasts on social media his unannounced campaign trail
visits to the countryside under the slogan “Work, work, work!”.
Fears of infection amid a third wave of the coronavirus that has hospitals
in the EU’s poorest country filled to the brim may well depress turnout,
analysts said.
The numbers of voters will be one of the most keenly watched aspects of
the election and likely define the strength in the legislature of the new
faces who have emerged from the protests.
Roughly 40 percent of the eligible 6.7 million voters will turn out on
Sunday, according to the Alpha research institute.
Virus fears could impact the result of the main opposition Socialists in
particular, whose older electorate is more likely to abstain.
With 20 to 22 percent of intended votes, the Socialist party is likely to
garner 54-56 seats.
A new populist group, There is Such a Nation, led by sharp-tongued talk
show host and Boris critic Slavi Trifonov, is polling third at around 13
percent and 33-34 seats.
Just behind them is the Turkish minority Movement for Rights and Freedoms party, a traditional kingmaker in several governments, with over 12 percent and 33-34 seats.
Two other formations will specifically target the votes of those who
joined last summer’s demonstrations.
The right-wing Democratic Bulgaria coalition, whose leader encouraged the
protests, and the Stand up! Mafia out! left-wing coalition, close to
President Rumen Radev, are set to garner five to six percent of the votes and end up with 13-17 lawmakers each.
Bringing up the rear are GERB’s current government coalition partners —
the nationalist VMRO party, which will most likely manage to cross the four
percent threshold to enter parliament after an aggressive campaign of anti-
Roma, anti-LGBT and anti-North Macedonia rhetoric.
Voting stations open at 7 am and close at 8 pm or no later than nine pm, if there are queues. Exit polls are expected shortly after.
First partial official results, usually expected late Sunday night, might
be delayed due to the introduction of machine voting along with the usual
ballot paper voting in the majority of the big polling stations.
The central electoral committee is due to release the full official
results by Thursday. — NNN-AGENCIES