Splintered election poses hurdles to prime minister
SOFIA, Bulgaria — The centerright party of Bulgaria’s longtime prime minister led the results of the country’s parliamentary election, the central electoral commission said Monday, with a new antiestablishment party in second place.
With 72% of ballots counted, the ruling GERB party had 25.8% of the vote. The There is Such Nation party led by popular TV entertainer Slavi Trifonov came in second with 18.2%. The Socialist Party was in third place with 14.9%.
In another sign of a divided electorate, the liberal anticorruption group Democratic Bulgaria received 10% support and the ethnic Turkish MRF party garnered 9%. The centerleft Stand Up! Mafia Out! alliance, which emerged after antigovernment protests last year, won 5%.
The fragmented tally would leave Prime Minister Boyko Borissov unable to form a fourth Cabinet on his own, and he faces an uphill task in finding allies with whom to form a stable government.
Borissov, 61, who has led the populist GERB party since its founding in 2006, has governed Bulgaria with an iron grip for the past decade.
Most political groups already have rejected the idea of cooperating with GERB. Experts predicted it would take weeks of talks to form a viable coalition, and they did not exclude the possibility of another election.
“For the first time in 11 years, a very powerful populist force like There Is Such Nation will be in parliament, meaning that a period of political instability is ahead of us,” political analyst Ognyan Minchev said.
Borissov called on his opponents to work with him to form a broadbased coalition. He suggested forming a government of experts supported by a broad majority.
“Let us appoint the experts and until December, we can overcome the pandemic and move forward,” he said in a statement. “Let us choose the best people to do the job.”