By Martin Banks - 20th May 2007
A disappointingly low turnout marred Bulgaria’s first-ever elections to the European parliament on Sunday.
Early results show that the centre-right group, Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria (GERB), won 21.6 per cent of votes.
This was followed by 21.4 per cent for the Socialist party and 20.2 per cent for the Turkish minority party Movement for Rights and Freedoms.
The official results will be announced later today but the three leading parties are expected to each take five of Bulgaria’s 18 MEP seats.
The ultra-nationalist Ataka party looks set to win three seats with one seat going to the National Movement Simeon II party.
Socialist prime minister Sergey Stanishev said his party’s results had “failed to meet expectations” and, in GERB, he acknowledged the emergence of a “powerful" new party.
He expressed disappointment with the fact that only 28.6 per cent of Bulgaria’s 6.7 million registered voters bothered to turn out.
Further reaction came from Parliament president Hans-Gert Poettering who said, “The 18 Bulgarian members will be the voice of Bulgarian citizens and will represent their interests in parliament.”
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