Political comments on the results of the July 11 early parliamentary elections

political comments results july early parliamentary elections

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23:59, 11.07.2021

The leader of “There Is Such a People” (TISP), Slavi Trifonov, commented on the July 11 elections results on Facebook: Today was a good day for Bulgarian democracy because these elections were the fairest so far. Not because of TISP's results but because of the new election rules, which limited as much as possible vote buying, employers telling staff who to vote for and ballot rigging using "ghost voters".

TISP party received an astonishing support. I want to thank everybody who voted for us. We truly appreciate your trust. I will announce what TISP will do tomorrow at 11:00 am, he said.

GERB Deputy Leader, Tomislav Donchev, said that the attempts at ''scraping off'' GERB are obviously unsucessful. GERB's results are an achievement because it comes after the State's powers have been directed against GERB for two months now in an attempt to undermine the party’s performance in the elections. Whatever the efforts, the results have shown that Bulgarian democracy is alive and that’s the good news, he said. Being in opposition is an honest and dignified way to stand up for one's principles, Donchev added.

GERB's Toma Bikov said that whatever the results may be, it seems that a coalition will be formed between the anti-establishment parties and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) and the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP).

We do not see any potential for Bulgaria to have successful governance in the coming months, and perhaps in the coming years, he stressed.

We will not betray any honest Bulgarian citizen. We will continue to do what we believe in. Being in opposition is also an honest and dignified way to stand up for one’s principles, Tomislav Donchev concluded.

This time, support for a "There is Such a People" government will not be unconditional. If they want support, they must invite the BSP for a conversation, BSP leader Kornelia Ninova said at a briefing after the first forecast results were released.

Unprecedentedly low turnout for the first time since Bulgaria's parliamentary elections. Apart from summer, the time for holidays, there are other objective reasons for this, she believes.

BSP repeated the result from April 4 elections, based on the active campaign we did, we expected more. But we did not have enough time between the previous and these elections to achieve this. We will continue on this path, unification in the left-wing space, search for the left alternative and its presentation to the public, Ninova noted.

She said that there should be a regular government to start the deep-going and genuine changes and tackle the pressing issues.

MRF leader, Mustafa Karadayi, said MRF is keeping its relative share. The low voter turnout is due to the season during which the elections were held and the machine voting. The MRF will not provide support unconditionally. The conditions for supporting the new government are bringing back normalcy to politics and restoring democracy, According to us, the restoration of democracy cannot happen with undemocratic means and tools, he said. The other condition is a clear programme for accelerated economic growth.

MRF Deputy Chair, Hasan Azis, said that voters expect the parties to sit around the table rather than negate each other. The MRF are ready to back a government that would begin to work and attain the country's objectives and priorities. For a second time, voters clearly say that Bulgaria needs multi-party governance and dialogue, which is the most important thing in politics.

Antoaneta Tsoneva from "Democratic Bulgaria" said that "Democratic Bulgaria" is open to a dialogue with “there is such a People”, which will take place once the balance of power after the final election results becomes clear: The coalition has not had such consultations with TISP, but once the results are ready, it is normal to start talks about policies and forming a cabinet.

According to her, after the 45th parliament, "Democratic Bulgaria" shows a lasting upward trend.

Maya Manolova, a leader of “Rise Up! Thugs Out!” said that the anti-establishment parties have improved their results.

According to her, the voters have shown wisdom, and now it is the turn of politicians to show wisdom and justify the expectations, so that a government is formed and the agenda of the people becomes the agenda of those in power.

As priorities from September, she outlined the recalculation of pensions, the start of judicial system reform and support for disadvantaged people.