The party of former Prime Minister Borissov is the favorite to lead a very fragmented Parliament and in the shadow of abstention
Oct. 2 () –
The jaded Bulgarian population returns to the polls this Sunday for the fourth time in a year and a half after the motion of censure that ended Prime Minister Kiril Petkov’s fragile coalition in June in parliamentary elections that will reflect, according to polls, the political fragmentation of the country.
Between seven and eight parties could end up with political representation after this Sunday’s elections with the party of Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, of former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, in the lead with approximately 25 percent of the votes thanks to the familiarity that arouses in voters in times of crisis, followed by Petkov’s party, We Continue the Change, with approximately 20 percent of the ballots.
Third place will be between the Turkish-Muslim Movement for Rights and Freedoms, the Socialists and the far-right pro-Russian Revival party, according to polls that predict, to the surprise of almost no experts, a record abstention, around at 50 percent. The unknown remains to see what happens with the parties of the Bulgarian singer Slavi Trifonov (There is such a town – ITN) and former interim Prime Minister Stefan Yanev (the pro-Russian movement Bulgarian Rise).
Revival, by Kostadin Kostadinov, will be the great beneficiary of the electoral impact of the war in Ukraine. Kostadinov, who has called for “total neutrality” in the conflict, has won the sympathy of voters in recent weeks and could end up doubling the result of the last elections, in which he reached 5 percent of the vote. . This time, he could reach double figures.
If anything, these elections could consolidate the populist movements in Parliament, where up to four formations of this court could obtain representation. For the experts from the LSE European Institute, it is further proof of the ideological incoherence that has dominated Bulgarian politics in recent years, whose parties have been structured between supporting and rejecting Borisov.
Inconsistency, they point out from the institute, which has become even more prominent in recent months due to the war in Ukraine, Gazprom’s decision to cut gas supplies to Bulgaria and the North Macedonia issue, and a growing estrangement major concern of the population, related to inflation that reached 15 percent in August, the rise in prices and the energy crisis that is approaching.
“Bulgaria is entering a downward spiral of elections and this is a phenomenon that has every chance of spreading to other parts of Europe,” political scientist Teodora Yovcheva explains to Euronews Bulgaria. “Israel and Spain already have a similar fate. However, in the Bulgarian case, the intensity is much stronger. Therefore, the European political elite has the opportunity to learn from the Bulgarian experience and appreciate the value of interaction. predictable and stable between the parties”.
