Market Links poll: GERB-UDF 22.8%, We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria 13.3%

Were elections to be held now, Boiko Borissov’s GERB-UDF coalition would get 22.8 per cent support from those who would vote, well ahead of the We Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria coalition with 13.3 per cent, according to a poll by Market Links and bTV, the results of which were released on September 12.

In third place is Magnitsky Act-sanctioned Delyan Peevski’s Movement for Rights and Freedoms – New Beginning with 12.6 per cent, opposition pro-Russian party Vuzrazhdane 9.7 per cent, governing coalition minority partner the Bulgarian Socialist Party – United Left five per cent, populist-nationalist Mech 4.2 per cent and populist-nationalist Velichie 4.1 per cent.

Governing coalition minority partner, populist ITN, would not surpass the threshold of four per cent of valid votes to win seats in the National Assembly.

Prime Minister Rossen Zhelyazkov’s coalition government has an approval rating of 21 per cent and a disapproval rating of 50 per cent, and the National Assembly has an approval rating of 12 per cent and a disapproval rating of 66 per cent.

Dobromir Zhivkov of Market Links told bTV on September 12 that the poll found that close to two-thirds of respondents had a negative attitude to the way the country was going.

“This assessment, as usual, tells us that those who evaluate the country negatively, or pessimists, are significantly more, many times more than those who have positive attitudes. This negative assessment was the highest, and the positive one was the lowest, after the collapse of the assembly in March 2024, while now we have relative parity,” Zhivkov said.

The most negative attitudes were recorded in March and April of this year – due to the tension related to Bulgaria’s upcoming entry into the euro zone and the accompanying protests and the conversation about whether to have a referendum.

Distrust in the government continues to grow steadily, the poll found.

“Over the past three months, we have noticed a decline in trust in the Cabinet. Now, we must say that this is the summer season. We can see how things will develop when the active political season revives, but in general we tend to depoliticize in the month when the MPs are on holiday. But in general we have constant distrust,” Zhivkov said.

He said that the steadily growing distrust in the government resulted from the viewthat it does not seem as if it is independently governing the country – “it seems as if there are other factors behind the Cabinet and behind the Prime Minister who make decisions.”

“The general feeling is that the country is governed in a not very transparent way,” he said.

Zhivkov said that there was a slight increase in support for MRF – New Beginning, while support for Vuzrazhdane had dropped.

The poll did not cover a new potential party of President Roumen Radev. According to Zhivkov, support for him will come from people who do not vote.

The poll was done from August 18 to 28 by bTV and Market Links among 1007 people over the age of 18, using the methods of direct personal interviews and an online survey.