Bulgarians vote for president in runoff election
ABC News
Bulgarians are at the polls to choose a new president in a hotly contested runoff amid a COVID-19 surge and a political crisis that has gripped the European Union’s poorest country
SOFIA, Bulgaria -- Bulgarians went to the polls on Sunday to choose a new president in a hotly contested runoff amid a COVID-19 surge and a political crisis that has gripped the European Union’s poorest country.
The choice is between incumbent Rumen Radev, 58, who is seeking a second five-year term in the largely ceremonial post, and Sofia University rector, Anastas Gerdzhikov, 58, who is backed by the center right GERB party of former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov.
Radev, a vocal critic of Borissov and firm supporter of last year’s anti-corruption protests, is going into the runoff as the favorite after winning 49.5 % of the votes in the first round on Nov. 14, well ahead of Gerdzhikov, who won 22.8%.
Radev, a former air force commander, has attracted many Bulgarians — who are fed up with politicians they see as corrupt and distanced from the people — by appointing two consecutive caretaker governments that unveiled alleged corruption cases in the industry and financial sectors.
