Bulgarian President Rumen Radev looked set to win a second term in office by a wide margin on Sunday as voters in the European Union's poorest country backed his strong anti-corruption message, exit polls showed.
Radev, 58, led his challenger Anastas Gerdzhikov, also 58, by 64%-66% to 32%-33% in the presidential run-off after nearly winning outright in the first round on Nov 14, exit polls by Alpha Research and Gallup International showed amid a record low voter turnout.
The election comes amid widespread discontent against high level graft that ended the decade-long rule of former premier Boyko Borissov in April and led a new anti-corruption party to victory in last week's parliamentary elections.
The presidential post is largely ceremonial but provides a powerful platform to influence public opinion. The president comes to prominence in times of political crisis, when the head of state can appoint interim cabinets.
Radev, a former air-force commander, gained popularity for his open support of massive anti-graft protests against Borissov in 2020 and for appointing interim governments that brought to light murky public procurement deals of Borissov's last centre-right cabinet. Borissov has denied any wrongdoing.
Gerdzhikov, the Sofia University rector backed by Borissov's GERB party, had accused Radev of pitting Bulgarians against one another. He pledged to unite the nation, which has been hit by some of the worst coronavirus death rates in the EU and soaring energy costs.
Two Harvard-educated entrepreneurs Radev appointed in May as interim ministers have since set up the We Continue The Change party (PP), which won Bulgaria's third national election this year on Nov. 14, pledging "zero corruption".
Radev is supported by Borissov's political opponents - PP, the Socialists and the anti-elite ITN party which, along with another anti-graft faction, are holding talks to form a government and end a prolonged political stalemate.
