Bulgaria’s European elections: Revised exit polls show even gloomier picture for BSP
Updates on exit polls after Bulgaria’s May 25 2014 European Parliament elections showed an even gloomier picture for the Bulgarian Socialist Party – current holder of the mandate to govern – than the first indications after voting ended.
Alpha Research, which initially projected that the BSP would get five out of Bulgaria’s European Parliament, behind the six won by centre-right GERB, said that it was possible that this number for the BSP would drop to four, with the seat moving to the Movement for Rights and Freedoms.
With all polls by all polling agencies showing a persuasive victory for GERB, party leader Boiko Borissov has called for the government formed in May 2013 with the BSP mandate to resign.
Alpha Research’s figures now showed GERB at 30.2 per cent (six seats), the BSP 19.5 per cent (four seats), the MRF 16.8 per cent (four seats), Nikolai Barekov’s Bulgaria Without Censorship 10.6 per cent (two seats) and the Reformist Bloc 6.5 per cent (one seat).
A poll by the Exacta Research Group showed similar results: GERB 30.7 per cent, the BSP 19.14 per cent, the MRF 16.8 per cent, BWC 10.8 per cent and the Reformist Bloc 6.5 per cent.
A different perspective was offered by the Sova Harris agency, which said that GERB had 29.57 per cent and not the BSP but the MRF was in second place, with 20.42 per cent, and the BSP had 18.3 per cent.
This agency said that BWC had 11.14 per cent and the Reformist Bloc was just beneath the threshold for seats, at 5.4 per cent.
A poll by the “BBSS Gallup” agency said that the BSP and MRF were effectively neck-and-neck, with the BSP at 18.5 per cent and the MRF 18.4 per cent, both behind GERB which had 30 per cent.
Asked by reporters whether his party would support calls for the government to resign, MRF leader Lyutvi Mestan – whose MRF is key to the current ruling axis – said that the political reality would vary according to whether his party would win three or four seats in the European Parliament.
Mestan said that the MRF was a loyal coalition partner but would respect the vote.
He said that “gloomy predictions” that the MRF would lose its place as the third political force in Bulgaria – a reference to speculation weeks ago that Barekov’s BWC would do better than the MRF in the European Parliament vote – had proved unjustified.
By 10.20pm, more than three hours after voting in the elections ended, BSP leader Sergei Stanishev had not yet held a news conference. (Photo of Mestan: dps.bg)
