BULGARIA: Borisov's GERB Retains Narrowest Of Leads With 67% Counted

Bulgaria's second election in three months looks set to deliver a result as inconclusive as that held in April 2021, with former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov's centre-right GERB party leading the populist anti-corruption 'There Is Such A Country' (ITN) by 24.0% to 23.9% with 67% of votes counted.

• For GERB these partial results mark a 1.8% decline in its vote share since April, while ITN's vote is up 6.5%. The centre-left Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSPzB) is in third place on 13.1% of the vote, in what - if mirrored in the final result) would mark the party's worst electoral performance since the restoration of democracy in 1991.
• The liberal centre-right Democratic Bulgaria and the anti-corruption 'Stand Up! Mafia, Get Out!' (ISMV) both look set to have increased their vote share since the April election. Both would likely work with ITN in order to keep former PM Borisov from regaining office (former Army General Stefan Yanev was installed as acting PM in May following the inconclusive election), but it remains to be seen whether the three parties combined can garner enough seats for a majority in parliament.