Martin Dimitrov is set to win a second consecutive term as leader of the right-wing Union of Democratic Forces (UDF), according to initial projections following the November 29 2009 internal UDF election, Bulgarian-language Dnevnik daily reported.

According to the initial count, Dimitrov commanded about 56 per cent of the vote. UDF's rules say that to win in the first round the candidate has to secure 50 per cent of the vote plus one.

Almost 11 000 UDF members were entitled to vote. Of this number 8000 turned up at polling stations, the party said. Dimitrov faced three opponents for the leadership: Roumen Hristov, who came second, followed by Luyben Petrov and Ivo Tsanev.

According to Dnevnik, all three would contest the process because of alleged violations such as polling stations closing ahead of time. Official results are expected within a day or two.

At the end of election day, however, Dimitrov was confident of victory and said that his first priorities in upcoming months would be to prepare the party for local elections in two years. This would involve selecting the party's candidates to stand as mayors and municipal councillors.

Dimitrov said that the UDF had achieved its goals for 2009 after winning one seat in the European Parliament and 10 seats in the Bulgarian Parliament. He highlighted the Blue Coalition that the UDF had forged with the other right-wing party, Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria (DSB), led by former UDF prime minister Ivan Kostov, and said he would work on forging ties with other right-wing formations.

The signing of the coalition agreement with the DSB caused serious turmoil within the UDF ahead of elections to the Bulgarian parliament on July 24 2009.

Dimitrov was widely criticised for joining forces with the DSB, mainly by the UDF's Sofia grouping, who saw the coalition agreement as damaging UDF's identity.

Dimitrov first became UDF leader in December 2008 when he won internal elections after his predecessor, businessman Plamen Youroukov, decided not to seek re-election.

When he assumed the leadership in 2008, Dimitrov promised all right-wing supporters he would bring about a greater degree of unity, something they had been missing since 2001 when UDF was last in office.

Dimitrov promised to work for a united right-wing in Bulgaria that would stand for election and even take part in a wider central right-wing coalition as an alternative to the two dominant current ruling coalition partners, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF).

In 2001, Dimitrov was not a UDF member but an economist at an NGO. He became an MP in 2005 on the basis of his expertise, and as such had no political experience.

Hence, when he won the UDF elections, many thought that he could reinvigorate the right-wing, which since 2001 had dissolved into small and divided factions against a backdrop of recriminations for events of a decade ago.