Bulgaria’s GERB Lags behind Socialists - Poll

The leaders of the two main political formations in Bulgaria - Boyko Borisov (GERB, left) and Sergey Stanishev (Socialists, right). Photo by BGNES

Bulgarians remain divided in their approval or disapproval of the two biggest parties in the country - the opposition center-right GERB and the left-wing Socialist party, according to a freshly released poll of the Sova Harris agency.

The poll has been commissioned by Bulgarian Pressa (Press) daily.

If the elections were to be held now, the formerly-ruling centrist and opposition Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, GERB, would gather 17.9% (1 million ballots) of the vote, while the Bulgarian Socialist Party, BSP, will get 20.9% (1.1 – 1.2 million ballots).

The only other parties likely to pass the 4% election threshold and enter the country's next parliament are the liberal, predominantly ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms with 6%, the recently-founded right-leaning Reformist Block (including Bulgaria for Citizens of former EU Commissioner, Meglena Kuneva, which came close to 4% at the last vote) with 7.6% and the recenlty launched party Bulgaria without Censorship of controversial TV journalist Nikolay Barekov with 4.8%.

The extreme nationalist party Ataka, currently in the Parliament, would get only 2.1% and its biggest rival, the nationalist National Front for Salvation of Bulgaria, NFSB, which came close to 4% in the May 12 early elections, would garner 2.3%.

There are also separate results for another party in the Reformist Block, Democrats for Strong Bulgaria, DSB, which would get 1.3%.