The centre-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria, GERB, led by ex-Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, won the snap parliamentary polls on Sunday by a margin of 4 per cent from its closest rival, according to the first exit polls released after polling stations closed at 8pm, Bulgaria’s main polling agencies – Alpha Research and Gallup International Balkan – revealed.
According to Alpha Research, GERB has won 33.4 per cent of the votes, while Gallup estimates that support for GERB was 32.6 per cent, which translates to 86-98 seats in the new parliament.
The Bulgarian Socialist Party, BSP, led by Korneliya Ninova, came a narrow second, with around 28 per cent of the votes, which translates to between 75 and 85 seats in the next National Assembly, depending on how many parties enter the parliament.
Voter turnout was estimated to be 52.8 per cent of the 6.8 million eligible voters in Bulgaria.
“This result definitely confirmed that GERB has to be a leading party in government,” Borissov said in a statement for the media following the release of the first exit polls.
He promised to make the maximum effort to form a government “with small compromises,” which would “answer the needs of people both internally and in the difficult international situation.”