The outcome of the second round of the municipal elections held on November 4 can be summarised in two words: protests and protests.
Not surprisingly, almost every opposition party asked for the elections to be nullified, on the grounds of alleged violations, ranging from procedural to criminal.
There were further allegations of vote-buying, for example in Sozopol on the Black Sea coast.
Voters’ reaction to all this was the predicted extremely low turnout which in Sofia, where voting was held to choose a number of regional mayors, reached a record low level of 14.37 per cent.
The three parties in the national coalition Cabinet, the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), the National Movement for Stability and Progress and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) said that there was no reason to nullify the elections’ results. Notwithstanding this, courts in the country received piles of complaints that will keep them busy for a long time.
The leaders of the ruling coalition were more interested in commenting on the performance of Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov’s party Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria (abbreviated as GERB in Bulgarian), all saying that Borissov who won the elections in Sofia on the first round had little justification in asking for early elections for Parliament; and they held that the ruling coalition, not GERB, was the real winner of the elections.
The numbers: the BSP won 11 of the regional centre cities, GERB won 10, the right-wing parties five and the MRF one.
Sergei Stanishev, Prime Minister and leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP)
The BSP did very well in the elections. You must bear in mind the situation we are in. This is the first year of Bulgaria’s EU membership and the elections campaign happened in an atmosphere of the teachers’ strike. I was actually surprised that teachers decided to end their strike the day after the second round and not earlier since we had changed nothing in our proposal to them. The total number of municipal councillors of the three ruling parties is more than the number of all the other parties combined, which gives us reason to call the elections a success for the coalition, despite the calls from some parties for early elections. I can say that GERB is now a serious political party but in terms of absolute numbers, the BSP is the winner.
The purchasing of votes has always existed in Bulgarian politics but this time, some parties and business associations put a lot of money into it, which I found very dangerous. I find no reason for to nullify the results, although we have witnessed some worrying events at some places, but this was not a trend.
Boiko Borissov, leader of GERB
GERB is the premier political party in Bulgaria, because even in the cities where we lost the elections for mayor, we won the elections for municipal councillors. I particularly enjoy the wins in Sofia and Bourgas. A total of 601 000 people voted for GERB while the BSP had the support of 523 000 votes. This changes the political status quo and we should go to early elections for Parliament. If GERB did not exist, the entire country would be under the control of the BSP and the MRF. The so-called business parties and movements are a worrying phenomenon for me. They are formed by clever people who are always one step ahead the state administration.
Simeon Saxe-Coburg, leader of National Movement for Stability and Progress (NMSP)
It is too early to talk about the end of the NMSP as a political party despite the unsatisfactory results that are worse than we expected. The NMSP still has potential and future. Some of the reasons for the poor result are the internal fights and conflicts within the party.
Ahmed Dogan, leader of the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF)
Buying votes is a European phenomenon, and since business is feeling uncomfortable, it is only natural for it to seek power by using this method. Do not worry, Bulgarian democracy will survive this. We don’t buy votes. What worries us is the talk that aims at provoking an ethnic vote. The “anti-MRF” vote is not our problem. When Bulgarian society has no real arguments, it says “the Turks are coming”. If you are playing chess, follow the rules of chess, but don’t pull out the hatchet. The MRF is not an ethnic but a normal party that knows what it wants and how to achieve it. We have won in 61 municipalities, we have more than 200 municipal councillors, which indicates our stable growth.
Pavel Shopov, deputy leader of ultra-nationalist Ataka party
Ataka is the third political “Bulgarian” party in Bulgaria after the BSP and GERB if we don’t count the MRF because it is not a “Bulgarian party”. We want Parliament to adopt a law that cancels the elections because of the numerous violations and the purchasing of votes. We think that courts in Bulgaria will not be able to handle the large number of complaints.
Plamen Yuroukov, leader of the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF)
The successful UDF mayors managed to hold their positions. Maybe Boiko Borissov should start aiming at supporters other than those of the right-wing parties since they have recognised the UDF as their party. The result of UDF’s coalition with the other right-wing party Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria is a good start for regained hopes. These elections were the biggest scam I have seen in my entire life. We have witnessed manipulated results in some of the polling stations and the UDF will request a recount of the votes in Sofia.
