Bulgarian Opposition Leader: Tides Will Turn in Presidential Vote

Sergey Stanishev and the Socialist presidential hopefuls in the background. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency

The presidential candidate of the Bulgarian Socialist Party Ivaylo Kalfin totally has the chance to turn things around in the presidential run-off, according to BSP leader Sergey Stanishev.

In the first round of the Bulgarian presidential elections on Sunday Kalfin got 28% of the votes vs. 41% for Rosen Plevneliev, the bidder of the ruling center right party GERB of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov.

"A new day for Bulgaria is looming," Stanishev declared at the election night news conference of the Bulgarian Socialist Party.

Stanishev complained of highly manipulated vote and repressions on part of the ruling GERB party.

"There are people who will resist GERB! These are the free people in Bulgaria who have consciousness, are not afraid of threats, do not sell their votes, and don't succumb to propaganda. The number of these people will grow. I wish to calm down the fervor of the GERB party and its leader, Prime Minister Borisov," the Socialist leader declared.

He stressed that 60% of the voters who cast their votes in the elections did not back GERB, and that over 200 of Bulgaria’s 264 municipalities will be holding mayoral runoffs.

He also said it is ironic that Kalfin and Kuneva, two former ministers of his Cabinet in 2005-2009, got more votes combined than the two former ministers of the Borisov Cabinet currently running for President and Vice-President, Rosen Plevneliev, former Regional Development Minister in the GERB government, and Margarita Popova, former Justice Minister.

Stanishev noted that the ruling party GERB got 250 000 votes fewer on Sunday than it did at the parliamentary elections in 2009, while the BSP has received 200 000 more than it had two years ago.

He is convinced that the 12-13% difference between Kalfin and Plevneliev is not insurmountable at the runoff.

He further stressed the Socialists are not afraid of “repressions” and will “resist” the actions of the GERB party with “all political means possible.”

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