Partial results in Bulgaria's snap parliamentary elections show the center-right Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party of longtime leader Boyko Borisov has finished with the highest percentage of the vote, the fourth such poll in 18 months.
Results from 99 percent of ballots counted showed on October 3 that GERB won 25.4 percent of votes, while the reformist anti-graft We Continue the Change (PP) party of former Prime Minister Kiril Petkov came second, with 20.2 percent in the fourth election in the European Union's poorest member country in less than two years.
If confirmed by final official results that include ballots from abroad, expected on October 5, three-time Prime Minister Borisov looks set to have a chance at a fourth term in office.
Voter turnout on October 2 was estimated at about 30 percent.
Petkov and former Finance Minister Assen Vassilev, co-chairs of the PP party, conceded and declared they will not participate in a coalition with GERB.
SEE ALSO: For Putin, Against 'Global Liberalism': Why So Many Bulgarian Parties Support Russia"It is GERB's responsibility to form a government. We promised that we will never participate in a coalition with GERB and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) and we will keep our promise," said Petkov, referring to the ethnic-Turkish backed DPS.
Vassilev added that GERB and DPS were both a "symbol of corruption" in Bulgarian politics.
The southeastern European country of nearly 7 million people has been plagued by political gridlock since 2020, when it was rocked by nationwide protests as public anger over years of corruption boiled over. Much of the ire was directed at Borisov and GERB.
The latest government, led by Petkov, collapsed in June after just six months when one of its coalition partners quit. Petkov and the pro-reform PP had struggled to deliver on his pledge to stamp out corruption.
Petkov has also backed Ukraine in its fight against Russia in a country traditionally friendly toward Moscow and has accused the Kremlin of helping orchestrate the collapse of his government, which refused to pay for gas in rubles as demanded by Russia.
SEE ALSO: Revival On The Rise: Ahead Of Elections, Far-Right Party Is Tapping Into Bulgarian Public AngerThe elections were marked by a lack of political enthusiasm, with turnout of just 25 percent by 4 p.m. local time.
After casting his vote earlier on October 2, Borisov told reporters that Bulgaria needs to clearly position itself in Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine.
"With this aggression, with this war, with a clear aggressor in the face of (Russian President Vladimir) Putin -- (I have) nothing against the Russian people -- with this farce with the referendums, Bulgaria must be very clear, categorical, and precise about its place in the European Union and NATO," he said, adding that Bulgaria's entry into the eurozone should be the first and most important task.
Besides GERB and We Continue the Change, five other parties are expected to have made it into the 240-seat chamber. They are the ethnic Turkish MRF party with 13.7 percent, the pro-Russian far-right Vazrazhdane (Revival) party with 10.2 percent, the Socialist Party with 9.3 percent, the liberal anti-corruption group Democratic Bulgaria with 7.5 percent, and the newly formed nationalist Bulgarian Rise party on 4.6 percent.
The ascent of Revival, which more than doubled its score compared to the previous election, when it garnered 4.9 percent, was facilitated, according to observers, by the pro-Russia sentiments shared by many Bulgarians, which provide fertile soil for aggressive Kremlin propaganda in the Balkan country.
Revival has promised to take Bulgaria out of the EU and NATO and advance policies friendly to the Kremlin.
While many experts dismiss the anti-Western rhetoric of Revival as little more than campaign bluster, they do caution that the party is doing the bidding of the Kremlin.
Early results gave Revival more than 10 percent of ballots counted.