October 3 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borissov said on Monday that the government would resign if the candidate of the ruling GERB party loses the first round of the forthcoming presidential elections, the government press office announced.
"The vote is in the first round, after which seeking of support starts. Therefore, if we don't win in the first round, we will resign", the press office quoted Borissov as saying in a statement.
GERB leader Borissov made the comment a day after he announced that parliament speaker Tsetska Tsacheva would be the candidate of the party for the presidential elections on November 6.
If none of the contenders secures an outright victory in the first round, the top two candidates will face each other in a run-off vote.
According to a survey by Sofia-based Alpha Research polling agency conducted in the period September 9-15, conservative GERB has the support of 23.5% of voters, trailed by opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party with 15.7% and right-wing Reformist Bloc, the junior partner of GERB in Borisov's minority coalition government, with 5.5%.