There was no clear winner in Bulgaria’s elections on Sunday night, much to the dismay of voters who have gone to the polls five times in the past two years.
When the results were first released, it looked like the pro-Western coalition, Continue the Change and Democratic Bulgaria, had won a narrow majority of 26.4 percent, beating the incumbent center-right GERB by 25.5 percent . But in a recount, the former scored 24.8 percent while the latter secured the lead at 25.9 percent.
Observers expect that a clear winner will be determined by Monday after all international votes have been counted.
The vote is seen by many as a make-or-break test for GERB, whose leader Boyko Borissov was prime minister from 2009 to 2021, when nationwide protests erupted over his government’s role in the country’s rampant corruption.
Continuing the Change, led by Harvard graduates Kiril Petkov and Asen Vasilev, and Democratic Bulgaria, led by Hristo Ivanov, have championed the promise of making Bulgaria a “European country” by raising the standard of health care and education increase and strengthen the judiciary and prosecutors independently. You are the favorite among younger voters.
If the country again fails to produce a functioning government, it could dashed its hopes of future eurozone entry and the effective use of its EU-COVID recovery aid.