Political Reactions Following Iliana Iotova's Victory in the Runoff of Bulgaria's Presidential Elections

GERB and Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) maintained complete silence on election night. Today, Novmber 2, representatives of Boyko Borissov’s party, 'Vazrazhdane' and 'Democratic Bulgaria' commented ahead of a meeting of the Parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee, which began hearing candidates for members of the Supreme Judicial Council (SJC) nominated by the parliamentary quota.

• Parallel Vote Count at 100% by 'Alpha Research': Iliana Iotova to Become Bulgaria’s First Woman President (57.4%), Gyurov Comes Second with 39.6%

Bulgaria now has an elected head of state, GERB–UDF's Raya Nazaryan stressed. For this reason, she said, Parliament should return to its agenda, including next year's forthcoming budget.

Raya Nazaryan, GERB–UDF: “The presidential and vice-presidential elections are now behind us. Let us leave the analysis to the political scientists. New political developments lie ahead. The issue you are asking about is now in the past. The National Assembly has lost two weeks of parliamentary work, and now we need to make up for lost time. I personally voted.”

• Iliana Iotova: With 30 Years of Experience in Politics, No One Has Yet Come Along to Tell Me What to Do”

The chair of the “Democratic Bulgaria” parliamentary group rejected accusations that they had run a negative campaign.

Nadezhda Yordanova, Democratic Bulgaria: “Mobilisation among Iotova’s supporters was greater. It is clear that the Gyurov–Kandev tandem may not have had enough time to mobilise more voters. It is now the President’s responsibility to heal the divisions she opened, so that she can lead and represent a united nation.”

The deputy leader of 'Vazrazhdane', which declared its support for Iliyana Iotova, reiterated the position expressed by the party leader on social media.

Petar Petrov, 'Vazrazhdane': “Vazrazhdane is an unavoidable factor in Bulgarian politics, and anyone who fails to take this into account will suffer – and is already suffering – losses. I say this also with regard to the forthcoming election of members of the Supreme Judicial Council from the parliamentary quota. Anyone who ignores this will most likely face negative consequences.”

MRF chose to respond with a smile when asked to comment on the election.