Bulgaria's former President Radev wins parliamentary election: Partial results
Sofia, April 20
The Progressive Bulgaria coalition, led by former President Rumen Radev, is on track to secure a landslide victory in the country's parliamentary elections, official partial results showed on Monday.
With 91.68 per cent of the votes counted, the Progressive Bulgaria coalition won 44.691 per cent, according to partial results published on the website of the country's Central Election Commission (CEC), reported Xinhua news agency.
GERB-UDF coalition came second with 13.398 per cent of the vote, followed by We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria (PP-DB) coalition with 13.210 per cent, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) with 6.233 per cent, and the Revival party with 4.354 per cent.
The other parties and coalitions that participated in Sunday's elections failed to pass the 4 per cent threshold to enter the 240-seat parliament.
Calculators of the expected number of parliamentary seats published on the websites of bTV television and Dnevnik newspaper predict that Progressive Bulgaria would take 131 seats, followed by GERB-UDF with 39, PP-DB with 39, MRF with 18, and the Revival party with 13 seats.
The CEC has to release the official results, including seat distribution, by Thursday.
Under the constitution, the president will task the largest parliamentary group with forming a government. The parliament elects it by a simple majority.
This marks Bulgaria's eighth parliamentary election in five years, triggered by the resignation of Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov's government in December 2025 amid mass protests over its economic policies, as well as parliament's subsequent failure to form a new cabinet.
Zhelyakov's government took power on January 16 last year after snap elections in October 2024.
Andrey Gurov was appointed as the caretaker prime minister in February this year by President Iliana Lotova.
— IANS
Reader Comments
Eighth election in five years! That's political instability on another level. Makes you appreciate the relative stability of our own system, even with coalition governments. Hope they can finally form a lasting government.
44% is a landslide? Shows how fragmented their politics is. The 4% threshold is interesting—similar to our own anti-defection laws in a way, meant to keep out very small parties. But eight elections in five years is just too much, yaar. The people must be exhausted.
The article mentions mass protests over economic policies. That's a lesson for all governments everywhere. If you don't deliver for the common people, especially on inflation and jobs, you will face the consequences. 👏
With respect, while the victory seems clear, I wish the article gave more context on what "Progressive Bulgaria" actually stands for. Is it left, right, center? What are their key promises? Just reporting percentages isn't enough for international readers.
Snap elections, caretaker governments... sounds familiar from news in other parts of Europe too. Political turmoil seems to be a global theme lately. Hopefully this result gives them a clear mandate to address those economic concerns.
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