Leader of Historic Bulgarian Rightists Resigns over Election Failure

Emil Kabaivanov, leader of the rightist Union of Democratic Forces, has officially announced his intention to resign after the party's catastrophic showing at Sunday's general elections in Bulgaria.

Monday Kabaivanov said he is "morally oblidged" to do the move, and called the rest of the party's leadership to do the same.

"We did not manage to win the trust of people, so that is the logical step for ust to take," commented the rightist leader.

Kabaivanov further commented that many potential UDF voters might have voted for former ruling center-right GERB party, in a bid to not "spill away" their votes.

Accoring to preliminary results from Bulgaria's Central Electoral Commission, the Union got merely 1.4% of the vote.

The Union of Democratic Forces was the main rightist political actor during Bulgaria's transition from communism and throughout the 1990s.

The UDF last was in power 1997-2001, under the chairmanship of then Bulgarian PM Ivan Kostov, but troubles came after mediocre results at the 2001 elections.

A series of rifts led to Kostov's founding of his own Democrats for Strong Bulgaria in 2004, which he has chaired ever since then.

Monday Kostov also announced his resignation from the leadership position, after DSB got little below 3% of the vote.

Emil Kabaivanov has been chairing the Union of Democratic for less than a year.

He was elected leader in July 2012, replacing Martin Dimitrov, after which the UDF underwent strong internal turmoil, shaking off a number of key faces, and apparently further weakening public trust.

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