Centre-right GERB Wins Snap Elections, Falls Short of Majority

Posted: Monday, May 13, 2013

GERB, the centre-right party of Bulgaria's ousted prime minister Boyko Borisov, won a slim victory in the country's snap elections on Sunday but failed to secure enough seats in parliament to govern alone, preliminary official results indicated on Monday.

Four parties will enter Bulgaria's next parliament but it is still unclear if anyone would be able to form a stable coalition, according to preliminary results of the Central Election Commission (CEC). Failure to form a government would mean that new snap elections would be held in the autumn. Bulgaria is currently run by a caretaker cabinet after nationwide protests brought down Borisov's government in February.

GERB has won 31.4% of the votes versus 27.3% for the Socialists' Coalition For Bulgaria, according to CEC data based on 69.4% of the ballots counted.

The ethnic Turks' Movement for Rights and Freedoms came in third with 9.1%. The only other party to cross the 4.0% threshold for entry into parliament was the ultra-nationalist Ataka with 7.6%.

However, another nationalist party, the National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria, comes close to making it into parliament with 3.7%, according to CEC.

Voter turnout stood at 41.3% by 1630 CET on Sunday, the latest data published on the Commission's website indicated. Polls closed at 1900 CET.

According to an exit poll of the Alpha Research agency that is based on a parallel count of 98% of the ballots, GERB won 30.1%, followed by Coalition For Bulgaria with 26.1%, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms with 12.3% and Ataka with 7.0%.

Borisov's cabinet resigned after street rallies across the country which started as a protest against high electricity bills but escalated into anti-government marches.

(HBCB)