Maya Manolova: People believed that change was possible

I thank the people who voted for me: nearly 170,000 people. I thank all those who voted with their conscience. The rest know how much their conscience is worth, Maya Manolova, independent candidate, told a press conference on November 3 after the end of the voting in local elections.

She said she would comment the final results once they were announced because, according to the parallel count made by her campaign staff, the difference between her and Fandakova is less than 3%.

Maya Manolova: I really did my best in a difficult, cruel and dishonest campaign.

Manolova said she was not afraid of losing, of coercion, of direct threats, of forceful results.

Maya Manolova: I'm afraid of the words "there's nothing I can do."

According to her, there was disgraceful and unpunished vote-buying. We have witnessed a forceful drive for people to vote, she said. Authorities did not respond to specific alerts from Manolova's campaign staff.

Maya Manolova: The public won. For the first time in 14 years there has been a run-off in mayoral elections in Sofia. The public demanded a real debate about the capital. People believed that change was possible. Sofia showed it could unite.