Exit polls show newly-formed anti-corruption party leading Bulgarian election

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A new Bulgarian political party formed just weeks ago and dedicated to fighting the Balkan nation’s endemic corruption is on course to beat the party of the country’s long-ruling right-wing populist former prime minister and get a shot at forming a new government.

Exit polls, partial tallies and unofficial vote count results over the weekend suggest the party – We Continue the Change – with around  26 per cent of the vote, was edging out former prime minister Boyko Borisov’s GERB party, with around 23 per cent of the vote.

Official results will start being released on Monday, though final results may not be known for days.

Turnout was tepid, at 33 per cent of eligible voters. Since neither of the two leading parties has anything close to a majority, there could be weeks or months of wrangling before a government is named.

Sunday’s vote was the third Bulgaria has held this year after two inconclusive polls exacerbated voter frustration over the economy and corruption.

Bulgaria is the European Union’s poorest member and has been struck hard by the coronavirus pandemic, which curtailed the movement and remittances of citizens with jobs in wealthier parts of the continent.

Bulgaria has the lowest Covid vaccination rate in the EU, with less than a quarter of eligible residents vaccinated and cases overwhelming a fragile health system. Three men died on Sunday when a fire broke out in the Covid ward of a hospital in southern Bulgaria.

The country of seven million is also rife with alleged corruption, including the awarding of major contracts and the doling out of perks to the elite. In one case that prompted outrage earlier this year, a state-owned bank that was supposed to support small and medium-size businesses had instead funneled €500 million to just eight firms.

We Continue the Change was founded in September by two graduates of Harvard University, Kiril Petkov and Asen Vasilev, each of whom has served briefly as a minister in the caretaker government in place.

The party drew support from the left, right and centre of the political spectrum on a platform of anti-corruption, government transparency and reform.

“Now is the time to show that Bulgaria has embarked on the road of change and there is no turning back,” Mr Petkov, a 41-year-old entrepreneur, told reporters on Sunday night, according to news agencies.

Mr Borisov, a 62-year-old former firefighter who became mayor of Sofia, has dominated Bulgaria’s political life for more than a decade. Last year, photos appeared of him sprawled out on a bed with piles of €500 bills, gold bricks and a Glock 9 mm handgun on a nightstand next to him, prompting questions about his personal associations and daily habits.

Exit polls and unofficial counts also showed president Rumen Radev will have to face off against a challenger in a 21 November runoff as voter turnout remained below 50 per cent. The presidency is a largely symbolic post.