July 5 (SeeNews) - Bulgarian right-of-centre opposition GERB party won parliamentary elections on Sunday by a margin of more than 2-to-1 ahead of its main opponent, the ruling Socialists, in a vote marked by a surprisingly high turnout, exit polls showed.
GERB, founded in 2006 and led by Sofia mayor Boiko Borisov, won 41.8% of the vote, while the Socialists, who are the biggest party in the current tripartite government coalition, got 17.1%, according to an exit poll conducted by local pollster Gallup International. According to an exit poll conducted by Sova Haris pollster, GERB won 41% and the Socialists were supported by 17.9%, while Alpha Research, another local polling agency, gave 38.5% support to GERB and 18.4% to the Socialists.
Borisov, a former senior Inteior Ministry official and a former bodyguard to late Communist dictator Todor Zhivkov, is pledging to clamp down on Bulgaria's perceived endemic corruption, crack down on organized crime and boost Bulgaria's recession-hit economy with financing from the IMF.
“With these results, […] our responsibility is to form a right-of-centre government as soon as possible,” GERB chairman Tsvetan Tsvetanov said.
Walking into the international press centre for the GERB news conference on election night, Borisov told reporters he is ready to become prime minister. He added that the only parties GERB will not invite for talks for the forming of a new government are the Socialists and mainly ethnic Turk DPS party, a junior partner in the outgoing Socialist-led government coalition.
Socialists say they have delivered on the pledges they gave four years ago: to sustain growth, maintain economic and financial stability, and attract fresh foreign investment. However, support for them has been eroded by their perceived failure to improve Bulgaria's judicial system and crack down on corruption and organized crime, which has cost the country the suspension of around one billion euro in EU aid.
Voter turnout was 60.2% by 7 p.m. local time (1600 GMT) when polling stations closed.
“Voter turnout was very high, higher than the more optimistic forecasts. This led to a categorical and convincing victory of GERB,” Gallup analyst Andrei Raichev told privately held bTV broadcaster.
A further five Bulgarian parties will send representatives to the 240-seat chamber after crossing the threshold set at 4.0% of all valid votes, exit polls show.
DPS won 11.6% of the vote, the exit poll of Gallup showed. DPS won 13.5% according to Alpha Research and 11.3% according to Sova Haris. DPS has received stable support in each parliamentary vote held in Bulgaria since 1990.
Gallup said strongly nationalistic Ataka party ranked fourth, having won 8.8% of the vote, while according to Sova Haris and Alpha Research it won 9.0% and 9.2%, respectively. Ataka says that Bulgaria should leave NATO and block Turkey's entry into the EU.
Conservative Blue Coalition, comprising the Union of Democratic Forces, SDS, and Democrats for Strong Bulgaria, DSB, led by ex-premier Ivan Kostov, won 7.9% of the vote, Gallup said. The Blue Coalition was supported by 7.5% according to Alpha Research, and 7.7% according to Sova Haris.
The Order, Lawfulness and Justice party won 4.4%, Gallup said. According to Sova Haris, the party won 4.6% and according to Alpha Research, it won 4.1%. RZS, set up in 2005, gained popularity fast, mainly by publicly exposing cases of suspected high-level corruption.
The Lider party and the third partner in the current government coalition, centrist National Movement for Stability and Prosperity, NDSV, led by ex-king Simeon Saxe-Coburg Gotha, did not cross the barrier for entry into parliament. They won 3.8% and 2.9% of the vote, respectively, the Gallup exit poll indicated.
According to Alpha Research and Sova Haris, Lider is very close to the 4.0% threshold, winning 3.9% of the vote.
The Central Electoral Commission is expected to announce the first preliminary results of the elections later on Sunday. It will announce the names of elected MPs on July 12.