Bulgaria centre right leads in snap vote, fails to win majority: Exit polls
Al Jazeera
GERB party in the lead in parliamentary elections, but falls short of majority needed to end political instability.
Bulgaria’s centre-right GERB party was in the lead after a parliamentary election on Sunday, an exit poll showed, but has fallen short of a majority that would put an end to the country’s political instability.
The Alpha Research poll showed Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) winning 26.4 percent of the votes, while reformist We Continue the Change (PP) was seen coming second with 14.9 percent of the votes. The pro-Russia ultra-nationalist Revival party was set to come third with 12.9 percent of the vote.
In the seventh such vote in four years, former conservative Prime Minister Boyko Borisov’s GERB party repeated its performance in the previous ballot last June by winning between 25 and 27 percent of the vote on Sunday, according to the polls.
Sunday’s election was triggered by the failure of Bulgaria’s political parties to agree on forming a coalition government after an inconclusive election on June 9.
The European Union’s poorest member country has been at a standstill since 2020, when massive anti-corruption protests brought down Borisov’s cabinet.
