Borissov emerged victorious in the last elections, but form a government appears an uphill struggle

Former premier Boyko Borissov’s GERB party is set to receive the mandate to form a new government in Bulgaria after the country experienced the seventh snap parliamentary election in a row in just over three years. Borissov will conduct consultations as his party led the results with 26.3% support.

The highly fragmented political landscape that emerged from the polls will give Borissov no option but to gather support from at least three other rivals. According to the latest results, eight parties have gained seats in the 240-seat chamber.

The pro-Western reformist bloc led by the We Continue the Change party (PP) and Democratic Bulgaria reached 14.2% support. The far-right, ultranationalist, and populist party “Revival” is the third most voted political force with 13.5% as it capitalized on the pro-Russian sentiments that benefit from the political instability. Borissov described his party’s victory as “categorical” and said he was ready to compromise to form a coalition with all other parties except Revival. Only three years ago, in 2021, the Revival party exceeded the 4% barrier required to gain seats and enter the Sofia parliament. The party demands that Bulgaria lift sanctions against Russia, stop helping Ukraine, and hold a referendum on its membership in NATO.

The Movement for Rights and Freedoms, which represented Bulgaria’s significant ethnic Turkish minority and was from ashes after the split from the US-sanction businessman and former media tycoon Delyan Peevski, gathered 11.5%. Peevski Alliance for Rights and Freedoms’ (ARF) was supported by 7,4% voters. It was surpassed by a hair by BSP, the coalition of left-wing parties. The party There Is Such a People (ITN) got 6.7%.

Former PP and ITN member Radostin Vasilev’s support for Orban-style authoritarian rule allowed his party Morality, Unity, Honour (MECh) to exceed the threshold for entry into the Parliament.

The populist pro-Russian party Velichie did not enter Parliament, coming close to the threshold. As a result, the leading party, GERB, will benefit from receiving the largest share of the minor parties’ votes redistribution.

In his first comment after the vote, Borissov said, “But it seems Borissov will face an uphill struggle to cobble together a governing coalition.” Political analysts predicted that the results, which do not differ significantly from the six previous elections held within the past three-and-a-half years, would be followed by difficult coalition talks. They don’t rule out another election.

The turnout was very low, reflecting voters’ growing distrust of politics and tiredness of continuous elections. Official results were not issued, but the number of voters who cast ballots will be between 33 percent and 38 percent, not far from the 34 percent of the vote last June, an all-time low since the fall of communism in the Balkan country.