Speaking at an election night news conference, President Georgi Purvanov - standing for a second term in office - said that it was a far easier option for a candidate to motivate voters on a negative basis, than to defend one’s reputation in office during a challenging time.

“I tried to use reasonable arguments, without alienating the supporters of other candidates,” Purvanov said.

The “convincing result” in the first round convinced his campaign that their performance had been successful, he said.

The voter turnout was low, but not worryingly low, Purvov said..

“We received the support of the electorate of all political parties, ranging from the far left to the far right. This signifies that people have understood my campaign slogan ‘President of all Bulgarians’ and that I am above party affiliation.”

He said that he had received the support of more than 40 per cent of the votes from supporters of some right-wing parties.

“What also makes me glad is that we received nearly 65 per cent of the votes of the young people.”

Purvanov said that other candidates had failed because they had pursued, through their nominations, “parallel goals” including trying to resolve internal political dynamics and trying to change the current political situation - a reference to attempts to precipitate early parliamentary elections.

According to Purvanov, the low voter turnout was caused by the negative campaigns of some candidates, the inability of candidates to motivate voters, a lack of trust in parties, institutions and policies, which he said would persist as long as politicians relied on political scandals, and that people had built up anger and despair. “They lost a lot during the transition period,” he said.

Ataka’s problem was that did not find the true guilty party responsible for Bulgarians’ problems of Bulgarians. “Instead, it points to the Turk and Roma minorities, which are even more troubled.”

Purvanov said that Volen Siderov would be an easier rival to defeat than Nedelcho Beronov, who had represented a viable political alternative. He said that Beronov had been weakened by the fact of entering the race “literally in the last minutes of the match”.

Right-wing parties would have to undergo a long process to transform and create a new right-wing, Purvanov said. Bulgaria could only gain from the strengthening of the right wing. The current political vacuum was being exploited by some radical elements.

He spoke of Bulgaria “experiencing a justice deficit”.

“But some people mistook political vengeance for justice,” Purvanov said.