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Bulgarian PM May Struggle To Form New Coalition Despite Election Victory

By RFE/RL's Bulgarian Service April 05, 2021

SOFIA -- Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov's center-right GERB party looks set to win the April 4 parliamentary elections, but may struggle to muster a majority.

With more than 72 percent of the ballots counted early on April 5, the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party was ahead with 25.8 percent of the vote, the Central Election Commission said.

A new anti-establishment party, There Is Such A People, was running second with 18.2 percent, followed by the opposition Socialist Party with about 15 percent.

The anti-graft grouping Democratic Bulgaria and center-left alliance Get Up! Get Out! were on about 10 percent and about 5 percent, respectively. The two parties were behind massive anti-corruption protests last year seeking to topple Borisov.

The mostly ethnic Turkish-backed Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) garnered 9 percent.

The far-right Bulgarian National Movement (VMRO), GERB's current coalition partner, was unable to clear the 4 percent threshold to enter parliament. Final official results are expected within days.

GERB is expected to get about 70 seats in the 240-seat legislature and Borisov will be handed a mandate to form his fourth cabinet. Borisov, who has dominated Bulgarian politics for more than a decade, needs at least 121 seats to form a new government.

Analysts predicted that he may struggle to find allies to form a stable governing coalition in a fragmented parliament where most groups have already rejected any cooperation with GERB. Experts don't rule out the possibility of another election.

"For the first time in 11 years, a very powerful populist force like There Is Such A People will be in parliament, meaning that a period of political instability is ahead of us," political analyst Ognyan Minchev told the AP news agency.

"This is the start of a very dynamic political change in Bulgaria, which will go through two or three elections, and the next ones are around the corner," he added.

Earlier, Borisov called on his opponents to join forces, hinting at the idea of forming a government.

"I offer you peace. I offer you that we put together experts and people who will assume the [government] responsibilities, and that we -- by December -- make the maximum efforts for Bulgaria, so that we overcome the pandemic and things can start getting better," Borisov said in a video on Facebook.

Emilia Zankina, a Bulgaria expert and dean of Temple University's Rome campus, told RFE/RL Borisov would likely form a "floating majority" among an "ideologically incongruent" cast of parties leading to constant bargaining on every issue.

"Forming a stable government will be almost possible," Zankina said. "I don't see this government lasting too long."

Bulgaria is ranked last among European Union countries on Transparency International's Corruption Perceptions Index, and it has one of the highest coronavirus death rates in the EU.

Members of the GERB party have been involved in a series of recent corruption scandals, sparking the country's largest anti-government demonstrations in years.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators took to the streets across the country last summer to protest corruption and the alleged use of the judiciary to target GERB's political rivals.

With reporting by Reuters, AFP, AP, and dpa

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/bulgaria- elections-borisov-gerb/31186992.html

Copyright (c) 2021. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.