Three-time Bulgarian prime minister Boyko Borisov looks set to have a chance at going for a fourth term in office after official election results on Monday confirmed that his pro-Western party took the most votes in weekend elections.
His centre-right GERB took 25.37% of the vote, according to the results, which were based on 99.4% of votes cast. The party of the sitting prime minister, Kiril Petkov, came in second, at 20.21%
Final results are expected during the course of the week.
Petkov's coalition lost a confidence vote in June, after one of its coalition partners pulled out of the government. At the time, Petkov, who had only been in office half a year, blamed Borisov's party for playing politics. The incident forced the country into its fourth election in a year and a half.
It remains unclear what Bulgaria's next government could look like, as Petkov's centrist PP had already ruled out a potential coalition with Borisov's GERB ahead of the elections, accusing them of corruption.
Initial results showed that seven parties crossed the 4% threshold needed to make it into parliament. One of those, Varazhdane (Rebirth) is a pro-Russian, nationalist party that was the smallest in the old legislature. Now, with 10.17% of the vote, it will be fourth-largest.
Members of the ruling coalition suffered losses, with the Socialists down to 9.32% and the liberal conservative environmentalist Democratic Bulgaria party down to 7.46%
Former defence minister Stefan Yanev's new Bulgarian Rise party also made it into the legislature, with 4.64%
The fallout from Russia's war on Ukraine dominated the election campaign in the south-eastern EU country. The freeze on deliveries of Russian gas, rising prices, and a dispute over arms deliveries to Kiev has shaped the debate.
The were mutual allegations of corruption and incompetence, as well as personal insults, during the election campaign.
