Bulgaria’s 2013 elections: Profiles of parties and players
Thirty-eight parties and seven coalitions are competing in Bulgaria’s national parliamentary elections on May 12 2013, but of this total no more than seven are seen as possible holders of seats in the 42nd National Assembly.
The contest is dominated by the rivalry between Boiko Borissov’s centre-right GERB party and the Bulgarian Socialist Party, led by Sergei Stanishev, who was prime minister from 2005 to 2009, when Borissov defeated the socialists at regular elections to take over government.
The other parties all but certain to enter Parliament are the Movement for Rights and Freedoms and Ataka. Seen, by one poll of a recent three, as possible winners of handfuls of seats are Meglena Kouneva’s Bulgaria for Citizens, Yane Yanev’s Order Law and Justice party, and the National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria.
However, surprises are possible on election day, even as major polling agencies prepare to release their final estimates before May 11, the “Day of Contemplation” on which campaigning, canvassing and the release of polls are illegal.
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