However, he will need other coalition partners to form a majority government.
Former President Rumen Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria group won Sunday’s snap parliamentary election in Bulgaria with 37.5 percent of the vote, an Alpha Research exit poll showed after polls closed. However, to form a majority government, it will need additional coalition partners, TASR informs, according to Reuters and AFP reports.
The Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party led by former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov finished second with 16.2 percent of the vote. Before the elections, Radev announced that he wanted to win an absolute majority in the 240-member parliament and refused to form a coalition with the GERB party after the elections.
The exit poll also predicts that voter turnout reached 43.4 percent and that six parties could surpass the four percent threshold needed to enter parliament.
Political instability and the fight against corruption
Radev was president for nine years and resigned from this position in January. During his time in office, he advocated the restoration of relations with Russia and criticized the sending of military aid to Ukraine. During the campaign, he promised to fight corruption.
Bulgaria is subject to political instability: political parties in a fragmented parliament have been unable to form stable governing coalitions since 2021, and eight parliamentary elections have already been held in the past five years.
