Bulgaria Heads to Polls for 7th Snap Election in 4 Years

By Edward McAllister
SOFIA (Reuters) – Bulgarians head to the polls on Sunday in the seventh snap election within four years. The country's fractured political parties struggle to form a stable coalition, leading to increasing voter apathy.

Bulgaria is the poorest member of the European Union and faces issues of corruption, with revolving-door governments since 2020 when anti-graft protests led to the downfall of a coalition led by the centre-right GERB party.

Latest polls indicate a continuation of the political deadlock with no clear winner or viable coalition options. Voter turnout is expected to be around 30%, marking the lowest since the end of communism.

Voting ends at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT), with exit polls available at that time and final results in a few days. Analysts predict another election early next year is likely without unexpected political partnerships or a unifying leader.

Ognyan Minchev, a political science professor at Sofia University, mentions a "deep crisis of the political system." This dysfunction worries many, especially as Bulgaria seeks stable governance to improve its infrastructure and pursue eurozone membership following its EU accession in 2007, which had previously seen optimism and economic growth.

After GERB's most recent electoral victory in June, where it secured 68 seats in the 240-seat parliament, President Rumen Radev mandated the party to form a government. However, GERB failed to establish a majority coalition, and other parties also fell short, prompting this snap election.

Recent Alpha Research polls show GERB leading with 26.5%, while the reformist We Continue the Change (PP) party has 14.9% and the pro-Russian Revival party sits at 14.2%. The Movement for Rights and Freedom party's split, which represents Bulgaria's significant ethnic Turkish minority, complicates coalition-building further.

Voter turnout is projected between 30% and 32%, down from over 75% in the 1990s and around 50% just three years ago. Many people reported disinterest in voting, though some still see it as a necessary option.

Stiliyan Todorov, a real estate agent in Sofia, expressed hope for a regular government, though he feels that hope has diminished.