(Sofia) The Bulgarians, who voted on Sunday to elect their deputies, in parallel with the European elections, clearly placed the conservatives in the lead, without however guaranteeing a way out of the impasse.
The winds of change that blew across the Balkan country in the summer of 2020 have well and truly subsided. And the man who was driven from power after demonstrations against corruption, former Prime Minister Boïko Borissov, is back in force.
With 26 to 28% of the vote according to exit polls, his Gerb party is clearly ahead of the reformers of the Let’s Continue Change/Democratic Bulgaria coalition (around 15%) who have failed to maintain the momentum. after massive anti-corruption protests in the summer of 2020.
Will Mr. Borissov succeed in forming a majority to govern? The negotiations promise to be complicated, with analysts already raising the specter of a seventh vote in the fall.
In the polling stations in Sofia, few residents came: the participation rate is estimated at around 30%, the lowest in decades.
“We are tired of elections, we want stability and prosperity for our country,” says Margarita Semerdzhieva, a 72-year-old retiree.
” Strong man ”
Faced with the succession of elections and an unprecedented political crisis since the end of communism, the reform camp suffered a slap, while the veteran “Boïko” did well.
A former firefighter and bodyguard, this colossus with a shaved head conveys the image of a “strong man”, and this is precisely what 49% of Bulgarians are looking for according to a recent study by the Open Society Institute.
By voting in a school on the outskirts of the capital, the 64-year-old official posed as a guarantor of “stability”, at a time of great uncertainty in Europe with the war in Ukraine.
Enough to appeal in this poorest country in the European Union, where the current slump has put reforms on hold, postponed membership of the euro zone and compromised full accession to the Schengen free movement area. .
“The situation must finally calm down. We tried all kinds of experiments to replace Boyko Borissov, but no one succeeded,” says Blagovesta Petkova, a 44-year-old teacher.
But Mr. Borissov’s detractors brandish his links with MP Delyan Peevski, a former media mogul targeted by American and British sanctions for corruption.
At the head of the Turkish minority party MDL (15% of the vote), Mr. Peevski could form a coalition with Gerb, speaking on Sunday of the need for a “new start” so that “the country can develop”.
“Preserve the status quo”
Their opponents warn against a return to the past, under the influence of “dark forces”.
“We are at a crossroads,” warned Kiril Petkov, co-founder of CC who briefly led the government in 2022, while his ally Hristo Ivanov called for “not leaving Bulgaria in the hands of Peevski” .
“It’s the scourge” of the country, comments former Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov to AFP.
With Boïko Borissov, Mr. Peevski has only one goal according to him: “to preserve the status quo”, particularly at the level of justice and the intelligence services, for fear that cases will be delved into that could incriminate them. .
In the opinion of experts, the reformists of CC/BD were sanctioned at the polls for having agreed to govern with their enemies from Gerb, after having condemned them so much.
The two forces put aside their differences in June 2023 to form a pro-Western government and block the way for the interim cabinets set up by President Rumen Radev, sensitive to the Kremlin’s theses. But this fragile union only lasted nine months.
The campaign, associated with that of the European elections, was marked by a wave of anti-EU propaganda and disinformation in a country where nostalgia for the communist era remains strong. In this context, the pro-Russian nationalists of Vazrajdane (Renaissance) collected 12 to 14% of the votes.