Bulgaria Ruling Party Loses Control on Sofia City Council - Final Count

Buglaria's main ruling GERB party has dramatically lost its absolute majority in the Sofia Municipal Council, final results show.

GERB, the center-right party of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, has only mustered 42.88% of the vote, compared to the 48% of ballots it received in 2011.

The result then translated into 33 out of 61 seats.

GERB is now poised to get only 30, falling just one short of an absolute majority.

With support for the party dwindling from more than 223 400 to just above 160 800 in the municipal council vote, the 2015 local elections mark the first time in 8 years it has lost its majority.

Another major reshuffle has taken place within the council, with right-wing Reformist Bloc, GERB's junior coalition partner in the government, overtaking on socialist BSP as the second-largest group (with support at 16.43%, compared to the socialist opposition's 9.89%).

Then come nationalist VMRO, the Serdica coalition backed by Bulgarian President (2002-2012) Georgi Parvanov's ABV party, nationalist Ataka party, the Glas Naroden ("Vox Populi") movement of musician Svetlyo Vitkov, Movement 21, the Greens, and the National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria (NFSB). Each of these has received between 1.5 and 4.8 percent of the vote.

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