Balkans | Early general elections in Bulgaria head to the polls on April 2

Due to the failure of the last parliament to form a government in Bulgaria, citizens will go to the polls again on April 2 for early general elections.

The campaign, which lasted nearly a month, ends today.

Political propaganda will be banned on April 1, which has been declared the country’s “Thinking Day”. Voters will choose between 21 parties and coalitions on April 2.

738 ballot boxes will be set up in 62 countries, including Turkey, for the fifth early elections in the past two years.

The number of ballot boxes to be set up in Turkey, where Bulgarian citizens are the most populous, has been set at 162.

The Central Election Commission (ZİK) stated that 118 ballot boxes will be set up in England, where there is a large Bulgarian diaspora, 74 in Germany, 64 in Spain and 56 in the USA.

The Bulgarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs will allocate 520 personnel to organize the elections abroad. 4 thousand 100 people abroad will serve at the polls.

According to the Bulgarian Election Law, votes can be cast using a voting machine and a paper ballot in these elections. More than 400 voting machines will be sent to 240 centers in 22 countries on 3 continents, where the number of voters is expected to increase.

The Bulgarian Ministry of the Interior stated that it would take all necessary measures to ensure the safety of electoral venues in schools in general.

Interior Minister Ivan Dermansiyev announced that bomb threats against schools, which have been widely circulated in recent days, will not affect election day.

Dermensev stated that all the reports, which he believed to be from abroad, were unfounded, and said that they would take the centers under police protection two days in advance.

At least 5 parties will enter the new parliament

Recent polls have shown that at least 5 parties can pass the 4 percent threshold required to enter the 240-member Bulgarian parliament after the early general elections, for which turnout is expected to be around 40 percent.

According to a Gallup International poll conducted on the eve of the elections, the coalition formed between the Continue Change (PP) and Democratic Bulgaria (DB) parties, headed by former Prime Minister Kirill Petkov, will receive 26.9 percent of the election total. sounds.

Citizens for European Development in Bulgaria (GERB), led by Boyko Borisov, one of the former prime ministers who ruled the country for 12 years until 2021, has a voting power of 26.5 percent.

The Movement for Rights and Freedoms (HÖH), which has a strong organizational structure and the majority of its members are Turks and Muslims, is expected to be the third largest political force in parliament with 13.3% of the vote.

Polls reveal that the populist, pro-Russian “Rebirth” party could win 13 percent of the vote, while the Bulgarian Socialist Party, continuing the political traditions of the former Communist Party, could win 7.2 percent.

HÖH is waiting for voter support in Türkiye

Mustafa Karaday, head of the HÖH party, which is traditionally supported by Turks and Muslims in Bulgaria, announced that they expect votes from Bulgarian citizens living abroad, especially in Turkey, in these elections.

Karaday stressed that if the turnout from Turkey, where 60-80 thousand immigrants voted, is high, then the Human Rights and Democracy Movement can increase the number of deputies in the new parliament from 36 to at least 40, and that the party should receive significant support in this regard. The elections are in order to play the role of the main partner in the next coalition government.

In Bulgaria, parties in the short-lived parliaments formed after general elections in April 2021, July 2021, November 2021 and October 2022 failed to reach consensus on forming a coalition government.

During this time, the country was ruled by provisional governments set up by President Romain Radev.