Bulgaria goes to the polls (again)

BULGARIA has changed governments four times in the last 18 months. On October 5^th Bulgarians will vote for another one. After nearly two years of political instability, which began after anti-poverty protests led to the resignation of the centre-right government of GERB in February 2013, the poorest member of the European Union seems to have come full circle.

GERB and its leader, Boiko Borisov, a former prime minister, are tipped to win more than one-third of the votes even if they will be short of a majority. The Socialists, whose embattled government resigned on August 6^th after a year in power marked by mass protests, are distant second with about 22% of the vote, according to Alpha Research, a pollster. The ethnic Turkish party, DPS, which was part of the Socialist cabinet is currently polling third at around 12%. Four more parties are flirting with the 4% threshold to enter parliament, including the rightist Reformist Bloc and the populist “Bulgaria without Censorship” of former journalist-turned-politician Nikolay Barekov(pictured).

Mr Borisov, a...Continue reading