Final Results In Bulgarian Vote Confirm Win For Anti-Elite Party

SOFIA -- The final results from Bulgaria’s snap parliamentary elections released on July 13 confirm earlier preliminary results showing the anti-elite party called There Is Such a People (ITN) edging out former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov's GERB-led coalition.

With 100 percent of the ballots counted, TV entertainer Slavi Trifonov's ITN finished first with 24.08 percent and GERB with 23.51, Bulgaria’s Central Election Commission said.

The parliamentary elections were held just three months after a previous, inconclusive vote. ITN’s vote total on July 11 was more than 92,000 beyond its total in the previous elections, held on April 4. GERB’s total was nearly 200,000 votes below what it received in April.

Four other parties gained enough votes to enter parliament. The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) was first among them with 13.39 percent, while liberal, Western-leaning grouping Democratic Bulgaria was next with 12.64 percent.

The mostly ethnic Turkish-backed Movement for Rights and Freedoms finished with 10.71 percent, while Stand Up! Get Out! -- a new, center-left alliance launched by former ombudsman Maya Manolova -- was at 5.01 percent in the final count.

Trifonov, 54, has already announced plans to try to form a cabinet, but at least two potential partners -- Democratic Bulgaria and Stand Up! Get Out! snubbed Trifonov's government proposal on July 13.

Before the vote, Trifonov said he would count on the support of the right-wing Democratic Bulgaria and left-leaning Stand Up! Get Out! alliance that emerged from last summer's anti-corruption street protests.

About 6.7 million people were eligible to vote on July 11 for members of the 240-seat parliament.

Other parties and coalitions failed to cross the 4 percent threshold for entering parliament. The closest were two nationalist groups: the Bulgarian Patriots coalition with 3.14 percent and the Vazrazhdane Party with 3.01 percent.

International observers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said on July 12 that the elections "were competitive and fundamental freedoms were generally respected."

With reporting by AFP