SOFIA -- Initial exit polls in Bulgaria show that reformist pro-Western coalition We Continue the Change/Democratic Bulgaria is leading in the crucial mayoral race in the capital, Sofia, although former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov's center-right GERB party appears to be performing solidly elsewhere in local runoff elections.
In the capital, Vassil Terziev -- We Continue the Change/Democratic Bulgaria‘s candidate -- leads Socialist Vanya Grigorova after neither achieved 50 percent in last week’s first round.
Official results are expected later in the night.
The GERB candidate failed to reach the second round, thus ending the center-right party’s 18-year hold on Sofia’s mayoral office.
GERB leader Borisov had called on voters to elect Terziev over Grigorova.
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Bulgarians Vote In Local Election Runoffs, Including For Mayor Of Sofia
GERB and We Continue the Change/ Democratic Bulgaria -- also known as PP-DB -- are both participating in a coalition backing the government of Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov.
PP-DB is a new anti-corruption coalition that failed to win the latest national elections on April 2.
GERB, which had been ruling Bulgaria since 2009, won the national election, but it failed to pick up enough support to form a government alone, leading to the coalition with the opposition PP-DB.
SEE ALSO: Election Chaos In Bulgaria After Officials Pull The Plug On Voting MachinesAlpha Research’s exit poll at 8 p.m. showed that PP-DB’s Terziev had 49.7 percent, while Grigorova had 43.8 percent. Gallup International showed 50.8 percent for Terziev and 45.2 percent for Grigorova.
Terziev is an IT entrepreneur, while Grigorova is a trade-union activist nominated by leftist and pro-Russia parties.
Terziev had a 10-percentage point lead over Grigorova in the October 31 first round.
On June 6, Bulgaria's parliament approved a coalition government led by Denkov, giving the Balkan member of EU and NATO a new government after five elections within two years.
The government received the backing of the parliament's two biggest political groups -- center-right GERB and PP-DB.
According to the agreement, Denkov, from the PP-DB, will be prime minister for the first nine months and then the position will be taken over by Maria Gabriel from GERB, who until then will be deputy prime minister and foreign minister.
Bulgaria had been governed mainly by caretaker governments appointed by President Rumen Radev since public anger over years of corruption boiled over into massive protests in 2020. In February, Radev dissolved parliament and announced the April 2 vote.