Bulgarians vote in election tipped to result in political stalemate
Güncelleme Tarihi:
SOFIA - Bulgarians voted Sunday in a general election tipped to be won by the rightwing opposition, but liable to result in a hung parliament and a political stalemate over the formation of the next government.
Eve-of-ballot polls credited the upstart centre-right GERB party of maverick Sofia mayor Boyko Borisov with 28 to 34 percent support, followed by the Socialists of outgoing Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev with 19 to 23 percent.
Neither party stands any real chance of gaining a majority in the 240-seat parliament to form a stable government, even with the support of their two preferred partners.
The Blue Coalition of the small right-wing UDF and DSB parties, who already said they are ready to ally with GERB, will muster 8 to 9.5 percent, polls show.
Meanwhile, the Socialists junior coalition partner in the current government, the liberal Turkish minority MRF party, will scoop 12 to 14 percent support.
Both GERB and the Socialists have rejected seeking support from the ultra-nationalist Ataka party, expected to win 9 to 12 percent of the ballot, and have so far ruled out joining hands in a right-left government.
Thus, one of three smaller parties -- the centrist NMSP of former king Simeon Saxe Coburg, the nationalist OLJ party, and the business formation Lider -- stands the chance of playing play kingmaker in the next government, if they manage to pass the four percent threshold to enter parliament, analysts say.
With coalition talks likely to take up the entire summer -- and possibly even necessitate repeat elections in the autumn -- observers are concerned about a political impasse at a time when the economic crisis is expected to reach its peak in
A total of 6.8 million Bulgarians are eligible to choose 240 parliamentary deputies for a four-year mandate from among over 4,500 candidates from 18 parties and coalitions.
For the first time voters will cast two separate ballots, the first to elect directly one deputy in each of the 31 constituencies and the second to fill the other 209 deputy seats, allotted on a proportional basis.
Expected turnout is about 60 percent.
Polling stations opened at 6 am (0300 GMT) on Sunday and were to close at 7 pm (1600 GMT), when polling institutes will announce the first exit poll results.
The electoral commission is due to announce its first partial official results early Monday.
Numerous vote-buying allegations have already marred the electoral campaign, prompting the interior ministry to provide reinforced police presence in regions where the practice is suspected to occur.