SOFIA, Bulgaria, June 9, (AP): Bulgarians are choosing a new parliament Sunday while also participating in European Union elections that have been overshadowed by domestic political instability and economic inequality as well as growing concern over the war in nearby Ukraine.
It was Bulgaria's sixth parliamentary election in three years. There were worries that voter fatigue and wide disillusionment with politicians who do not fulfill promises to fight corruption and introduce reforms could result in a low turnout and another fragmented parliament.
Preliminary results are expected Monday in the voting for the 240 seats in the National Assembly and for 17 members in the European Parliament.
The front-runners in the National Assembly elections were seen as the GERB center-right party led by three-time Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and the reformist coalition We Continue the Change-Democratic Bulgaria.
After running neck and neck in last July’s election, the two rival groups sought to break the political stalemate by forming an uneasy governing coalition, but it survived only nine months.
In heated campaigning for the latest election, both parties leveled charges of corruption against the other, and analysts saw little chance of the two trying to work together again.