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For the fourth time in a year and a half: Bulgarians vote for parliament Israel today

2022-10-02T09:49:01.566Z


6.6 million eligible voters in the country are expected to choose a parliament with seven or eight factions • Former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov's party, which ruled for almost 12 years, is expected to become the largest in Parliament again - but will have difficulty forming a coalition • The party of the current Prime Minister, Kirill Petkov, is expected to weaken • On the agenda: the fight against corruption, relations with Russia and the question of preparation for winter


An election season that never ends - does that sound familiar to you?

Also to the citizens of Bulgaria: today they are going to vote for the fourth time in 18 months.

And the bad news is that this time too there does not seem to be a way out of the impasse into which Bulgarian politics has fallen.

The current round was decided after Kirill Petkov's government fell in a vote of no confidence last June.

In the previous times, the elections were held in Bulgaria in April, July and November 2021. The Petkov government fell after one of the four parties that made it up withdrew from it following a disagreement on the budget.

Boyko Borisov arrives to vote.

His party is leading, photo: IPA

Now the polls predict that Petkov's party, "Continuing with Change", will get 18% of the votes - compared to the 25% it received in the November elections.

Its main rival, GERB, led by former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, is expected to strengthen to 26% compared to the 23% it received in the last election.

The current Prime Minister, Kirill Petkov.

He lost a vote of no confidence in the summer, photo: Reuters

The "Movement for Rights and Freedoms", which the polls predict will have 12%, the Socialists (11%) and the far-right pro-Russian party "Revival" (10%) are fighting for the third place.

The "Yes, Bulgaria" party whose main mission is the fight against corruption is expected to get only 6%.

6.6 million people in Bulgaria have the right to vote, but estimates in the country are that after the three previous rounds, no more than 40% of them will go to the polls.

To the public's fatigue from the inability to form a stable government, with the factors that will affect the current elections, the commentators also count the concerns that have not yet dissipated about the preparation for winter and a considerable Russian influence.

Bulgaria is considered one of the countries most vulnerable to Kremlin propaganda and it is not impossible that the pro-Russian parties will make certain achievements, despite the decline in the popularity of Vladimir Putin himself.

The vote this morning.

"The parties will have to compromise, Photo: AFP

Bulgaria has been suffering from political instability for several years.

Thus, for example, in the summer of 2020 mass demonstrations against corruption were held in the country that led to the fall of the government of Boyko Borisov, who was prime minister for almost 12 years (2009-2013, 2014-2017, and again from 2017 to 2021).

The elections in April and July 2021 did not produce a government, and only in November did Borissou's main opponent, Petkov, manage to present a new cabinet.

Petkov promised to fight widespread corruption and implement legal reform.

Unlike his predecessor, Petkov took a pro-American and pro-NATO line, even expelling Russian diplomats suspected of espionage. Petkov also aligned himself with the Western democracies and sided with Ukraine after the Russian invasion in February.

However, in June Petkov, a political meteor and a Harvard graduate, lost in a vote of no confidence, after his coalition lost the populist Yesh Am Kaqih party due to disagreements over the budget.

Now the job of forming the government will be especially difficult, since seven and maybe even eight parties are expected to enter the parliament.

One of them will be "Bulgarian Dawn", founded by Stefan Yanev, former Minister of Defense in the Petkov government.

Yanev was fired after he refused to use the word "war" in relation to the Russian invasion of Ukraine - a position that is consistent with the Kremlin's narrative, which calls the invasion a "special military operation" and bans those who call the invasion "war."

In June, Yanev founded "Hashahar", which is defined as a Eurosceptic party and, according to certain definitions, also pro-Russian.

The other problem is the image of Borisov and the image of his party.

Although his party is expected to lead in the number of votes, GERB is considered toxic by many in Bulgaria, and will therefore have difficulty forming a government.

However, the politicians will have to take into account a factor that is gaining weight, and that is the voters' anger at the lack of a decision.

"The compromise will be a bitter pill, but the pressure from the voters to form a government is increasing," Roja Smilova, a political science lecturer at the University of Sofia, told "Politico".

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Source: israelhayom

All news articles on 2022-10-02

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