The first round of the presidential elections ended with a lead of 42,715 votes for Iliyana Yotova and Kiril Valchev over Andrey Gyurov and Georgi Kandev. According to the final data, Yotova and Valchev received 34.759% of the votes, or 528,929 votes, and Gyurov and Kandev - 31.952%, or 486,214 votes. The two presidential candidate pairs will appear in the run-off on November 1.
„The surprise was for everyone - pleasant and unpleasant, but for everyone. There will be no surprises in the run-off, because the competition is extremely equal“, political analyst and lecturer Prof. Svetoslav Malinov commented to the Bulgarian National Radio.
Yotova enters the run-off with a lead, but also with a problem
According to Malinov, Yotova is a candidate of the government and the status quo, while Gyurov is positioning himself as a candidate associated with change. Gyurov is supported by “We continue the change“ and “Democratic Bulgaria“, and Yotova is supported by the ruling majority and the party that won the parliamentary elections.
The analyst emphasized the difference between the results of the supporting formations and the personal vote for the candidates. According to him, nearly two-thirds of the voters of the party that supports Yotova did not go to the polls. Malinov described this as a sign of disappointment with the government or with the candidacy itself.
“The great power, the great lead that she had, all of this was weakened during the campaign“, Malinov said. He also stated that the feeling of a convincing rise of Yotova had been broken, and President Rumen Radev would have to personally commit to supporting her candidacy.
The vote of absent voters
The first round was held with low voter turnout. According to Malinov, one of the reasons was the lack of candidates from GERB and DPS - a situation that, in his words, is unusual for presidential elections and has reduced the feeling of a direct political clash.
27 presidential candidate pairs participated in the race, but none of them managed to win the necessary majority to win in the first round. Thus, the election of president and vice president will be decided between the first two pairs, with a difference of less than three percentage points.
The first signals of the runoff
Kostadin Kostadinov has already stated that “Vazrazhdane“ will not support Andrey Gyurov in the second round. According to him, some of the party's voters may support Yotova, others may not vote, and still others may choose “I do not support anyone“. This leaves a significant part of the votes of the dropped candidates without a single party recommendation.
The upcoming campaign will be conducted from different starting positions. Yotova has a formal lead and support from the ruling forces, but she must mobilize voters who did not participate in the first round. Gyurov must turn the close result into a broader coalition of votes, without relying on automatic transfer of support from the dropped candidates.
“The surprise is already over. Now we will see the real political clash“, summarized Prof. Svetoslav Malinov.
Sources: bnrnews.bg, dnes.bg