Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP)

ITN (There Is Such a People) party and the coalition GERB-UDF are neck and neck for the upcoming snap elections for parliament on 11 July, a Gallup International Balkan survey, commissioned by the Bulgarian National Radio shows.

With a few days to go before the official campaigning period ahead of Bulgaria's July 11 early parliamentary elections, Boyko Borissov's GERB-UDF electoral coalition has 20.3 per cent of support among those who intend to vote, with Slavi Trifonov's ITN party close behind at 18.2 per cent, according to the results of a poll released by Alpha Research on June 9.

The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) will return the exploratory mandate to form a government on May 5.
The information was released by head of BSP-Sofia Kaloyan Pargov, emerging from a sitting of the BSP National Council on
Saturday.

"We made the decision to return the mandate, given the current situation and circumstances," Pargov said.

Bulgarian President Rumen Radev will give the mandate for the formation of the government to the Bulgarian socialists on Saturday (1 May), his office announced on Thursday. The two previous attempts to form a cabinet following the 4 April general elections failed.

The National Council of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) decided that the party will support  President Rumen Radev for a second term run.

The decision was taken unanimously during the BSP National Council, which took place on Saturday.

Outgoing Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov on Wednesday (14 April) put forward Daniel Mitov, a diplomat, as his successor although most analysts agree that the proposed cabinet will likely be rejected by the new Parliament.

Election results based on 99% of the tally sheets processed show that 6 Bulgarian parties will have seats in the next Parliament, data from the Central Election Commission.

Ruling GERB-UDF coalition has the largest share of votes in the April 4 parliamentary elections. It has received 26.14%.

Bulgarians voted on Sunday (4 April) sending in Parliament three new political forces largely representing the anti-corruption protests during the summer. Boyko Borissov's GERB party remained the largest force, but appears unable to form a government.

GERB's lead over the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) has increased to just over 8 points. Near the end of the campaign for the April 4 parliamentary elections, GERB gets  28.1 per cent support among firm voters. The BSP remains in
second place with 19.8 per cent, but the data show a gradual ebb of supporters.

People tend to romanticize their failures. Take, for example, Prime Minister Boyko Borissov. In his career, he reached a point where 60% of the Bulgarians - both left- and right-leaning, and even some of his EPP European partners - were convinced it was time for him to step down.