“There is no room for any emotion. This is only the first half“, said the deputy chairman of the parliamentary group of "Democratic Bulgaria" Bozhidar Bojanov to BNT after the first round of the presidential elections. According to data with 95.29% of the protocols processed, Iliana Yotova and Kiril Valchev receive 34.59%, and Andrey Gyurov and Georgi Kandev - 32.03%. The two candidates go to the run-off on November 1.
Bozhanov said that Gyurov received more votes than the parties supporting him, if the result is compared with the previous elections. According to him, the campaign started with a 25% difference in the sociological surveys, and ended with a 2.5% difference.
„A very important week is ahead, in which I believe that Andrey Gyurov and Georgi Kandev will do the work that they lack.“The deputy chairman of the parliamentary group of the DB described Gyurov's campaign as positive and “beyond clichés“. He stated that a decline in the number of votes was observed with Iliyana Yotova. Bozanov compared the result with the previous parliamentary elections, when, according to him, “Progressive Bulgaria“ received about 1.5 million votes, and the BSP, which supports it, another about 100,000 votes. According to him, Yotova is now below 500,000 votes.
Bozhanov linked the result to the government
According to Bozhanov, some voters are returning to the parties they voted for before - – – – We Continue the Change“, – – and MECH. He linked this to dissatisfaction with the government of – Progressive Bulgaria“.
–The government, which came with two requests - fight against the oligarchy and deal with prices, is not coping with either of them”, said Bozhanov. He added that, in his opinion, this dissatisfaction was also reflected in Iliyana Yotova's result.
Gyurov invites Yotova to a debate
Andrei Gyurov invited Iliyana Yotova to an open debate before the second round. He stated that Bulgarian citizens need to hear how the two candidates will use the powers of the president and how they will act in difficult decisions.
Bozhanov described the debate as important and stated that the lack of a public clash between the main candidates is among the reasons for the low voter turnout. He expressed hope that Yotova would accept the invitation and that the two would have an in-depth conversation before the runoff.