VOTING BEGINS IN BULGARIA’s EARLY PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS

On 5th of October, the Bulgarian citizens vote for MPs in 43rd National Assembly. 25 parties and coalitions and four independent candidates compete for seats in Parliament.

These are the second early parliamentary elections in the past two years. Bulgaria held general elections on 12th of May 2013, several months ahead of schedule, after the cabinet led by the then Prime Minister Boyko Borisov resigned following anti-government protests in February the same year. The 2013 early elections were again won by the centre-right party GERB, but it secured only 97 seats in Parliament and handed back the mandate to form a government.

Following short negotiations, Plamen Oresharski became Prime Minister backed by the centre–left Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and the liberal Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF).

The term of office of the cabinet formed by BSP and MRF, with the support of the nationalist party Ataka, came to an end on 23rd of July 2014 when the government resigned. The resignation resulted from instability of the ruling majority in the 42nd National Assembly, anti-government protests for more than a year, low public trust, unsatisfactory results for the ruling coalition in the European Parliament elections and a subsequent break-up of the coalition.

The National Assembly of the Republic of Bulgaria consists of 240 MPs elected for a four-year term of office. For election purposes, the country is divided into 31 constituencies. On 5th of October this year, for the first time at general elections, the Bulgarian citizens will have the right to a preferential voting, i.e. they will have the right to express preference for a particular candidate from the list of the party or coalition for which they vote in their constituency.

The polling day in Bulgaria starts at 06:00 and runs until 19:00. The opening hours in the polling stations outside Bulgaria are from 06:00 to 19:00 local time. The law provides for extension of the voting time until 20:00 at the latest.

On the Election Day, until the close of voting, which will be announced by the Central Election Commission, no election campaigning is allowed and no results of the exit polls should be released.

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