Politics Election commission: Pro-Western camps ahead in Bulgaria
In the south-eastern EU country of Bulgaria, two rival pro-Western camps have taken the top two places in the early parliamentary elections.
28.10.2024, 13:32
SDA
The center-right alliance Gerb-SDS received 26.4 percent of the vote, followed by its political rival, the liberal-conservative alliance PP-DB with 14.2 percent, according to the Central Election Commission (ZIK) after counting 99.7 percent of the voting protocols the day after the election.
The pro-Russian nationalist and populist party Vasrashdane (Rebirth) came third in this seventh parliamentary election in three and a half years with 13.4 percent, according to ZIK. Bulgarians had only elected a new parliament in June, but no party was able to form a regular government. An interim cabinet was appointed.
Difficult government formation expected
Up to nine political forces are likely to overcome the four percent hurdle to enter parliament. According to political analysts, this unprecedented fragmentation of the People's Assembly is likely to make forming a government more difficult.
According to the preliminary results, a populist newcomer, whose party name as an acronym means sword in Bulgarian, came in eighth place with 4.6 percent. With 4.01 percent, another populist party without a pro-Western profile, Velichie (meaning glory, grandeur), is on the brink of collapse. According to sociologists, both parties were able to garner a protest vote.
