Bulgarians vote for president in runoff election

SOFIA – Bulgarians went to the polls connected Sunday to take a caller president successful a hotly contested runoff amid a COVID-19 surge and a governmental situation that has gripped the European Union’s poorest country.

The prime is betwixt incumbent Rumen Radev, 58, who is seeking a 2nd five-year word successful the mostly ceremonial post, and Sofia University rector, Anastas Gerdzhikov, 58, who is backed by the halfway close GERB enactment of erstwhile Prime Minister Boyko Borissov.

Radev, a vocal professional of Borissov and steadfast protagonist of past year’s anti-corruption protests, is going into the runoff arsenic the favourite aft winning 49.5 % of the votes successful the archetypal circular connected Nov. 14, good up of Gerdzhikov, who won 22.8%.

Radev, a erstwhile aerial unit commander, has attracted galore Bulgarians — who are fed up with politicians they spot arsenic corrupt and distanced from the radical — by appointing 2 consecutive caretaker governments that unveiled alleged corruption cases successful the manufacture and fiscal sectors.

Ad

Founded lone fewer weeks agone by 2 Harvard graduates, the We Continue the Change party, amazingly won the parliamentary predetermination past week due to the fact that of their resolute anti-graft actions arsenic Finance and Economy caretaker ministers.

The caller enactment has declared its enactment for Radev, on with respective different opponents of Boyko Borissov, including the Socialist Party and the anti-elite There is Such a People party.

Gerdzhikov, a prof successful past and mediaeval literature, is supported by Borissov’s GERB enactment and the chiefly Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms.

A beardown protagonist of Bulgaria’s pro-Western orientation, Gerdzhikov has pledged to unite the nation, to amended the regularisation of instrumentality and enactment for amended concern opportunities.

Radev, a erstwhile NATO combatant aviator who studied for a clip astatine the U.S. Air War College successful Alabama, has pledged to support Bulgaria’s spot successful the Western alliance, if helium is reelected. But helium besides has insisted for pragmatic ties with Russia and that sanctions connected Moscow request to beryllium lifted.

Ad

During a statesmanlike statement past week, Radev said that the Crimean Peninsula, annexed by Russia from Ukraine successful 2014, was “currently Russian." His remarks prompted protests from the Ukrainian government.

About 6.7 cardinal Bulgarians are eligible to vote, but pollsters expect galore of them to enactment location due to the fact that of increasing interest implicit a caller deadly COVID-19 wave.

Preliminary results volition beryllium announced Sunday night, with the last result owed Monday.

Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.