Bulgarian president calls early parliament elections for October to overcome impasse

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — Bulgaria’s president on Tuesday called early parliamentary elections for October, in another effort to overcome the political impasse and economic woes plaguing the European Union and NATO member.

President Rumen Radev called the snap balloting for Oct. 27 — Bulgaria’s seventh election in three years. He also reappointed Dimitar Glavchev to lead the interim government until the vote. The interim Cabinet, largely the same as the incumbent one, took the oath in Parliament.

“The political crisis is not over,” Radev said ahead of the swearing-in ceremony, adding that there will be a solution only when there is a sustainable majority in Parliament that elects an effective government.

Bulgaria, a country of 6.7 million, has been gripped by political instability since 2020, when mass protests erupted against corrupt politicians that had allowed oligarchs to take control of state institutions.

But out of six past snap elections, only two produced an elected government. Both times, however, the government collapsed after reform-oriented politicians attempted to take on graft and cut off the country’s energy and security reliance on Russia.

The last election, in June, failed to produce a clear winner. Instead, a fragmented legislature of seven parties were unable to cobble together a viable coalition. The center-right GERB party of three-times Prime Minister Boyko Borissov won 68 seats, the most of any party but well short of a majority in the 240-seat Parliament and could not find coalition partners.

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The crisis is expected to slow down Bulgaria’s plans to swiftly join the euro zone and spur reforms necessary to unlock EU funds for recovery.

The flurry of snap elections has also dampened interest in politics, resulting in growing voter apathy and a declining turnout, exacerbated by a campaign filled with propaganda and personal attacks.

Voters are clearly tired — turnout went from 50% in the April 2021 vote to 33% in June, the lowest since the end of communist rule in 1989.