Before the start of the campaign for the parliamentary vote on April 19, Rumen Radev's formation "Progressive Bulgaria" leads with 21.1%, GERB is in second place with 18.6%, and PP-DB is in third place with 12%. The 4-percent barrier is also passed by DPS (7.2%) and "Vazrazhdane" (4.9%).
Slightly below the threshold for entering parliament remain BSP-OL (3%), MECH (2.8%), "Velichye" (2.7%).
This is clear from a national survey, funded and implemented jointly by bTV and “Market Links“, conducted among 1006 people over 18 in the country in the period 07 - 15 March 2026 using the methods of direct-personal interview and online survey.
Sociologist from “Market Links“ Dobromir Zhivkov explained that trust in “Progressive Bulgaria“ has currently fallen compared to February, when their last survey was. According to him, the large discrepancy in percentages with other agencies is in the methodology of presenting the data. Both approaches are valid. He explained that the change comes from the large number of people who want to vote, but have not decided for whom.
„We must take into account Rumen Radev's behavior as a political leader. We have not seen many of his applications in recent years. It was seen that he prefers to give statements instead of studio interviews. It is as if he is attacking and standing in opposition to the cabinet. Alternative political entities have also begun to emerge to „steal“ the protest vote – for example „Siyanie“, Zhivkov added.
According to him, no one managed to win the sympathy of 1/5 of those who expressed a desire to vote and their votes should not be redistributed, because this artificially increases support.
The data also shows that high voter turnout is expected – over 50% of those surveyed said they would vote. “This refutes the hypothesis that the lack of loud political statements and battles – will demobilize some of the voters“, said the sociologist.
Support for the “Gyurov“ cabinet is close to what the “Zhelyazkov“ cabinet started with. Trust in the National Assembly remains low.
Regarding trust in politicians, the survey shows that the most support is for President Iliana Yotova (49%) and the leader of “Progressive Bulgaria“ Rumen Radev (49%), but distrust in him is one point higher. The top three also includes the acting Prime Minister Andrey Gyurov (40%).
„It is clear that a month after Rumen Radev's formation was announced, it cannot attract these 20% of the undecided. We have a serious share of Bulgarian citizens who are not rushing to the next new political entity. In the previous elections, this percentage was 8, the campaign will be key“, the sociologist pointed out.
„Most of the politicians who are in the current National Assembly have quite serious problems with trust. The disappointment is also visible in the trust in the parliament. We are in a serious political crisis, which is also expressed in a serious crisis of trust – not only in politicians, but also in institutions and judicial bodies“, Zhivkov specified.