Bulgarian opposition wins election

A right-wing opposition party looks to have won Bulgaria’s parliamentary election by a wide margin, and Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev conceded defeat.

Official election results are not expected until today, but Sofia Mayor Boiko Borisov, the leader of the right-wing Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, said he expected to form the country’s next government and serve as its prime minister.

“I will take the responsibility to lead the next government,” Mr Borisov said at a news conference yesterday, the day of the vote.

Mr Stanishev, whose socialist coalition was hurt by corruption, congratulated the opposition for its victory.

“The results show that the Socialist Party has suffered a serious loss,” he told reporters.

Mr Borisov’s party did not appear to win an outright majority, but it may be able to get the support it needs to form a coalition government.

The Alpha Research exit poll indicated the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria won 38.5% of the vote. The survey placed the governing Socialists second with 18.4%, while their junior coalition partner, the mainly Turkish MRF, won 13.5%.

Alpha Research said the ultra-nationalist Attack Party would finish fourth with 9.2%, followed by the right-wing Blue Coalition with 7.5%.

A separate exit poll by Sova Harris said Borisov’s party won 40.8% of the vote, with the Socialists at 17.1% and Turkish MRF with 15.2%. It said the Attack Party would finish fourth with 8.9%, followed by the Blue Coalition with 6.4%.

Some 53% of Bulgaria’s 6.8 million eligible voters cast ballots, according to the exit polls.

Mr Stanishev’s Socialist government has been credited with securing EU membership for Bulgaria in 2007, but it has widely been blamed for failing to crack down on corruption and improve the quality of life for Bulgaria’s 7.6 million people.

Bulgaria is the poorest member of the 27-nation European Union.