Elections to Gauge Bulgaria Govt Halfway through Term*

Bulgaria’s Prime Minister Boyko Borisov (L) is pictured here together with his party’s runner Rosen Plevenliev (R), who is expected to defeat opposition Socialist Ivaylo Kalfin at the run-off on October 30. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency

DPA

Voting began Sunday in Bulgaria's presidential election run-off, with the ruling conservatives runner Rosen Plevenliev expected to defeat opposition Socialist Ivaylo Kalfin.

Plevenliev won 40 per cent of the ballots cast in the first round a week earlier and Kalfin 29 per cent. A run-off is held whenever no candidate claims more than half of all the votes.

A former regional development minister, Plevenliev, 47, has been put forward by Prime Minister Boyko Borisov's GERB party, which has been in power since elections in 2009.

Kalfin, 47, has served as the foreign minister in a Socialist government before that.

The outcome will gauge where Borisov's cabinet stands roughly halfway through its term.

He and GERB swept to power by promising to stomp out corruption, but, though the authorities opened several high-profile corruption cases, few verdicts were reached in courts.

Instead, Borisov has had his hands full with measures to keep Bulgaria above the water amid the economic crisis, all while shoring up the volatile support GERB requires to run a minority cabinet.

Nearly 7 million registered voters will be able to cast their ballots until polling stations close at 7 pm (1700 GMT).

 

*The title of the article has been changed by the Editorial Staff of Novinite.com

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