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Bulgaria’s There Is Such a People party wins early parliamentary polls

Bulgaria’s voter turnout hit a record low, some 42.19% of eligible voters came to the polling stations

© AP Photo/Valentina Petrova

SOFIA, July 15. / TASS /. Bulgaria’s Central Election Commission (CEC) summed up the final results of the July 11 snap parliamentary elections, declaring that There Is Such a People party has secured victory, the CEC announced on Thursday on its official website.

According to the final data, some 24.08% of citizens (657,824 people) cast their votes for the There Is Such a People party, delegating 65 deputies to the country’s National Assembly (unicameral parliament). The Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party in a coalition with the Union of Democratic Forces, which was supported by 23.51% of voters (642,165), came in second. This coalition is going to receive 63 seats. The Bulgarian Socialist Party is in the third place with 13.39% of ballots (365,695), so it will garner 36 seats. The Democratic Bulgaria party got 12.64% of the vote (345,329), having also received 36 seats. The Movement for Rights and Freedoms party gained 10.71% of the vote (292,439) and 29 seats. The Civic Platform ‘Stand Up! Mafia, Get Out!’ won 5.01% of ballots (136,879) and 13 seats in the parliament.

Bulgaria’s voter turnout hit a record low, some 42.19% of eligible voters (2,775,410 people) came to the polling stations.

Furthermore, the Bulgarian CEC satisfied the request of GERB party’s leader former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, who decided to give up his seat in the 46th parliament and wrote a corresponding statement.

The There Is Such a People party already announced on Monday its plans to independently set up Bulgaria’s new government, which caused a negative reaction from opponents, the majority of whom refused to back this idea in parliament, stating that there was no political dialogue. Bulgarian caretaker Prime Minister Stefan Yanev also commented on the election results emphasizing that there were no full-fledged political debates during the election campaign. "The reason for the extremely low electoral activity was the lack of meaningful political debates during the election campaign. Some political forces even refused to communicate with their voters. This is a sign of not only low political culture but also a total misunderstanding of politics as a process, behavior, and action," Yanev said.

Bulgaria held early parliamentary elections on Sunday, July 11, without any serious violations. Representatives of 23 parties and coalitions ran for 240 seats in the country’s 46th National Assembly.

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