GERB party gains most parliament seats in Bulgaria snap elections
Boyko Borissov, leader of the center-right GERB party votes at a polling station during snap parliamentary elections and European Parliament elections in Sofia, Bulgaria, June 9, 2024. (Reuters Photo)


The center-right GERB party obtained the most seats in the 240-seat legislature in the recent snap elections held Sunday, according to results published by the country's election commission on Thursday.

The Movement for Rights and Freedom (MRF), mainly representing Bulgaria's large ethnic Turkish minority, won 47 seats while the pro-Western bloc We Continue the Change (PP) had 39 seats.

The ultra-nationalist Revival party won 38 seats.

GERB leader and former Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said earlier on Thursday his party will form a negotiating team on Monday to reach out to all parties in the parliament.

Sunday's vote, the sixth in three years, was triggered by the collapse in March of a coalition comprising GERB and the PP.

NATO member Bulgaria needs a stable government to accelerate the flow of EU funds into its creaking infrastructure and nudge it toward adopting the euro and fully participating in Europe's open-border Schengen Area.

Borissov led the country for more than a decade before losing power in 2021 after thousands took to the streets the previous year accusing him of failing to combat corruption and cosying up with powerful local oligarchs.

"A technocratic cabinet, consisting of various non-elected experts nominated by several parliamentary parties, emerges as the most realistic post-election scenario," Teneo analyst said in a note earlier this week.

"Such a cabinet could have a predetermined set of policy objectives, such as continuing with the Eurozone accession, carrying out reforms and investments outlined in the country’s National Recovery Resilience Plan, and adopting the 2025 budget."