Bulgaria Blue Coalition Demands Manual Vote Count

Bulgaria's opposition "Blue Coalition", which brings together the biggest right-wing parties, said it will file an official request with the Central Electoral Commission for a manual vote count as it is a few votes away from landing a second MEP seat.

The information was revealed by Petar Moskov, Deputy Chair of the Democrats for Strong Bulgaria (DSB) party.

The request is based on information received by the Blue Coalition that the difference between them and the National Movement for Stability and Progress (NMSP) of former Tsar and PM, Simeon Saxe-Coburg was only 250 to 350 votes.

During their post-election press conference the "Blues" said they were satisfied with the 204 000 votes they received - a 15% increase compared with the separate results of the parties members of the Coalition during the 2007 EP elections.

The Blue Coalition is however officially speaking of vote substitution and accuse the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) of transferring votes to NMSP and LIDER.

According to the Coalition's Co-Chair and leader of the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF), Martin Dimitrov, the results in the regions of Dobrich and Shumen were strong proof for vote reshuffling because in comparison with 2007 EP elections, DPS had lost votes to NMSP and LIDER.

Dimitrov also reiterated his appeal to Boyko Borisov, the informal leader of the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB0 party, which won the EP elections, to have a joined majority candidates' ballot for the upcoming local parliamentary elections.

"If GERB reject our proposal it means they do not want to rule Bulgaria. We will try to unite, with GERB's help, the scattered EP vote," Dimitrov said, adding they would never forge a coalition with DPS.

The Leader of the Agrarian Union, also part of the Blue Coalition, Anastasia Mozer, voiced her discontent from the fact that in some electoral polls in the country, the time for voting has not been extended after 7 pm, despite the fact that people, who waited in line, have arrived before the official closing time.

Ivan Kostov, leader of DSB, commented on the Monday hints of the DPS leader, Ahmed Dogan, that he supported the Blue Coalition as "political hypocrisy, the insolence of an individual, who is busy buying and selling votes."