Thu, Feb 09 2012
THE RIGHT-WING BLUES: Martin Dimitrov, left, and Ivan Kostov, leaders of the right-wing Blue Coalition, proposed to GERB leader Boiko Borissov that the only way to keep the current coalition from returning to government was for their coalition and his party to have joint majoritarian candidates. At the first round of talks on June 9 he turned them down.
Photo: Anelia Nikolova
A picture emerges of the voter likely to support Borissov’s party in Bulgaria’s July 5 elections, while speculation on possible coalitions continues apace.
Hristo Kovachki’s political project gathers pace amid accusations of a ‘controlled vote’.
Bulgaria’s European Parliament elections were seen as a dry run for the July 2009 national parliamentary elections, and have set the scene for the complex contest ahead in the next few weeks.
The timetable for the class of 2009, from the first sitting to voting on a new European Commission.
Central Election Commission says Borissov’s party gets five seats. The Blue Coalition, with one seat, will get two if the Lisbon Treaty comes into force.
Mutual finger-pointing among parties leaves few exempt from allegations of vote-buying; electoral commission says all reports have been forwarded to law enforcement authorities.
No trains could cross the Danube Bridge and passengers from international trains were being taken to the city of Rousse by road transport.
Hazardous weather warnings across the country on February 9, new record-low temperatures, and three people reported frozen to death in Pernik.
Opposition parties and environmental protection NGOs argued that this and other provisions were the result of lobbyist pressure from ski resort operators.
Ferry-boat service between the Bulgarian and Romanian banks of the river may continue if the ferry captains decide that the weather conditions allow the safe passage of the boats.
Bulgaria shut down two 440MW units at its Kozloduy nuclear power plant in 2004 and two more units with the same installed power in 2006.