SOFIA: Bulgarians voted on Sunday in their fourth general election in 18 months, anxious about soaring consumer prices and energy costs ahead of a winter overshadowed by the Ukraine war.
While endemic corruption was the focus of the previous vote last November, economic woes are now top of voters’ concerns.
The European Union’s poorest member state is battling annual inflation of close to 20 per cent.
Krasimira Velkova, a 64-year-old economist from Sofia who came to cast her ballot shortly after polls opened, confirmed these fears.
“People worry about inflation, about the fact that when you enter a food store, a shopping trolley that’s just half full costs a fortune. The difference compared to last year is absolutely staggering,” she said.
“We are worried about how we’ll get through the winter, how we’ll bear the cold, if we’ll be able to pay our bills,” Velkova added.
Bulgaria’s former premier Boyko Borisov, 63, could benefit from people’s fears.
He held power three times and dominated politics for a decade and is now eyeing a comeback on a “return to stability” platform.
Polls on the eve of the ballot show support for his conservative GERB party rising, crediting it with about 25 per cent of the votes.
The Balkan country has been dogged by political instability since early last year, when GERB lost power following massive anti-corruption demonstrations.
Borisov’s rival, outgoing reformist premier Kiril Petkov, 42, has urged voters to let him “continue the change” he started but is lagging in the polls on around 16 per cent.
The Harvard-educated former entrepreneur stormed onto the political scene in 2021 and managed to piece together a precarious four-party coalition after winning last November’s vote. However, after a stint in power of just seven months, he was toppled in a no-confidence motion.
In an interview, Petkov trumpeted his success in the fight against “corruption practices” that allowed his cabinet to redistribute public funds, offering pension rises and free kindergarten.
“So it’s a great first step but we have a lot more work to do,” he said.
“The challenge is to really show that the Bulgarians have made the choice — the choice for a new, European, progressive, transparent Bulgaria versus going back to the years of transition, to the politicians of corruption,” he said. — AFP
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