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Bulgarians will return to the polls on Sunday for a presidential runoff between acting President Iliana Yotova and former caretaker Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov, after neither candidate won a majority in the first round, according to Anadolu Agency.
Yotova and her running mate, Kiril Valchev, received 34.8% of the vote, while Gyurov and his running mate, Georgi Kandev, secured 32%, the Central Election Commission said.
Turnout in the Oct. 25 first round was around 22.5%, the lowest recorded in Bulgaria’s post-communist history. A total of 27 candidates contested the vote.
Under the electoral rules, a candidate must win more than half of valid votes, with turnout exceeding 50% of registered voters, to be elected in the first round. If those conditions are not met, the two leading candidates advance to a runoff.
Runoff follows years of political instability
The presidential vote comes as Bulgaria faces political instability. The country has held eight parliamentary elections since April 2021, seven of them early elections, after parties struggled to secure enough support to form stable governments.
Disagreements over coalition arrangements led to the collapse of successive efforts to form regular governments, resulting in caretaker Cabinets and further early elections.
In the latest parliamentary election, held in April, Progressive Bulgaria, led by former President Rumen Radev, won 131 of the National Assembly’s 240 seats, securing an outright majority.
Yotova, who served as Radev’s vice president, assumed the presidency after he resigned in January. Backed by Radev’s Progressive Bulgaria party, she is seeking a full presidential mandate.
A victory would make Yotova Bulgaria’s first elected female president. The president represents the country, serves as commander-in-chief of the armed forces and can veto legislation.
Gyurov, an economist and former deputy governor of the Bulgarian National Bank, served as caretaker prime minister before the April parliamentary elections. He is backed by opposition parties.
The campaign has included debate over Bulgaria’s foreign policy and its relations with Russia, Ukraine and Western allies.
Polling stations are scheduled to open at 7 am (0500 GMT) and close at 8 pm (1800 GMT).
