Nobody expected much excitement on Friday, when the political campaign before the local elections officially kicked off in Bulgaria, but the start was especially boring this time. One of the explanations may be the expectation of some politicians that the ruling GERB party will strengthen its positions even further. Another explanation may be the caution of the parties, because for the first time alongside the elections a referendum will be held, in which the Bulgarians would answer whether they support the introduction of electronic voting.
A total of 71 parties and three coalitions will take part in the upcoming elections. Some 24 political parties, a coalition and 8 initiative committees will voice their support for electronic voting during the awareness campaign dedicated to the referendum. 6 parties and 5 committees say people should vote against electronic voting.
Most analysts do not expect surprises. According to them, GERB will strengthen its positions, capturing some of the current mayors’ positions of the Bulgarian Socialist Party. GERB is expected to win in the capital city of Sofia, where current mayor Yordanka Fandakova could keep her position with a victory in the first round. GERB leader Boyko Borisov has managed to stabilize the party and the parliamentary majority thanks to the lack of a true alternative and to the highly fractured opposition and he would continue to count on this now.On the other hand, the number of supporters of the Bulgarian Socialist Party - the main opponent of GERB, has been declining despite the fact that the leadership of the party demonstrates calmness and confidence before the elections on October 25. If pollsters were right and people witnessed yet another loss for BSP, current leader Mihail Mikov would most certainly resign.
Analysts are more hesitant when speaking about the third big player – the Movement for Rights and Freedoms. On the one hand the political formation has its firm electorate that would ensure victory in certain towns, but on the other leader Lutfi Mestan has failed to establish himself as an authority figure so far and MRF might lose positions in some municipalities.
Speaking about the referendum initiated by President Rosen Plevneliev, polls show Bulgarians are mostly indifferent towards the topic. Electronic voting was just one of three questions initially proposed, but MPs rejected the other two, which were actually much more important. One concerned the possibility for introducing majority voting and the other asked if elections and referendums should become obligatory. Some experts fear that the combination of a referendum with local elections could confuse some voters. The situation after the local elections on October 25 will to a great extent determine the results of future parliamentary elections.
English version: Alexander Markov
Completely calm and normal, according to the law, the election day is taking place in the only open polling station in Kuwait. The Bulgarian community in the Arab country numbers about 300-350 people , mostly highly educated specialists in the fields..
"The last one to quit wins. If we believe and want democracy in Bulgaria to win..., we must persevere, even though it's discouraging," Izabela Shopova from Brisbane, Australia tells Radio Bulgaria Nearly 6,000 people identified themselves as..
On the threshold of the sixth early parliamentary elections in less than three years, the fatigue of the Bulgarian citizens from the administrative hopelessness is visible . This seems to be the case in the political arena as well - proof is the..
The Alliance for Rights and Freedoms (APS) of Ahmed Dogan - the honorary chairman of the former DPS movement - announced its support for the PP-DB..
Whether there will be negotiations to form a government will become clear after the election of the speaker of the National Assembly . Parliamentarism..
For the seventh time in three years, Bulgarians went to the polls, and the results shed light on some of the behind-the-scenes manoeuvring. A seemingly..
Partly Cloudy
Clear