2014 Bulgarian parliamentary election

2014 Bulgarian parliamentary election
Bulgaria
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All 240 seats in the National Assembly
121 seats needed for a majority
Turnout49.51%
Party Leader % Seats +/–
GERB Boyko Borisov 32.67 84 −13
BSPzB Mihail Mikov 15.40 39 −45
DPS Lyutvi Mestan 14.84 38 +2
RB Radan Kanev 8.89 23 +23
PF Krasimir Karakachanov 7.28 19 +19
BBT Nikolay Barekov 5.69 15 New
Ataka Volen Siderov 4.52 11 −12
ABV Georgi Parvanov 4.15 11 New
This lists parties that won seats. See the complete results below.
Prime Minister before Prime Minister after
Georgi Bliznashki Georgi Bliznashki
Independent
Boyko Borisov
GERB
Boyko Borisov

Parliamentary elections were held in Bulgaria on 5 October 2014 to elect the 43rd National Assembly.[1] GERB remained the largest party, winning 84 of the 240 seats with around a third of the vote. A total of eight parties won seats, the first time since the beginning of democratic elections in 1990 that more than seven parties entered parliament.[2] Boyko Borisov then became prime minister as head of a coalition with the Reformist Bloc and with outside support from the Patriotic Front and the Alternative for Bulgarian Revival.

Background

After the 2013 election, the seat distribution was such that the new coalition government, composed of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) and led by Plamen Oresharski, had only half the seats in Parliament, and thus prospects of holding early elections were significant. Also, the Oresharski cabinet was confronted by a series of protests starting on 14 June 2013, in response to the election of Delyan Peevski as head of the Bulgarian state security agency DANS (State Agency for National Security).[3][4][5]

Following the setback suffered by the BSP in the European Parliament election, having picked up 18.94% of the popular vote (down from 26.6% in 2013), opposition parties called for early parliamentary elections. The leader of the DPS expressed his desire to have the government resign so that early elections can be scheduled for the end of 2014 or the middle of 2015.[6]

On 10 June 2014 the leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, Sergei Stanishev, demanded the resignation of the government: "We cannot have the responsibility for the existence and actions of this government solely by ourselves."[7] Following an agreement from the three largest parties (GERB, BSP and DPS) to hold early parliamentary elections for 5 October 2014,[8] the cabinet was to resign by the end of July.[9]

On Wednesday July 23, Oresharski's government submitted its resignation.[10] The next day parliament voted 180–8 (8 abstained and 44 were absent) to accept the government's resignation.[11] After each party refused to try to form a new government, on 6 August a caretaker government led by Georgi Bliznashki was sworn into office and the 42nd National Assembly was dissolved with an election date set for 5 October.[1]

Campaign

Twenty-two parties and seven coalitions registered to run on election day before the deadline. Two parties were denied registration.[12]

The election campaign started on 5 September.[13]

Opinion polls

Pre election campaign

Election campaign

Source Date GERB BSP DPS Attack RB BBT PF ABV Others Total
Gallup 18 September 2014 35.9% 18.3% 14.2% 3.4% 5.6% 5.8% 4.9% 3.6% 8.3% 100.0%
Alpha Research 1 October 2014 34.1% 19.1% 15.4% - 6% 6% 4.2% - - 84.8%

Results

Results of the election, showing vote strength by electoral district.
PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
GERB1,072,49132.67+2.184–13
BSP - Left Bulgaria505,52715.40–11.239–45
Movement for Rights and Freedoms487,13414.84+3.538+2
Reformist Bloc291,8068.89+1.123+23
Patriotic Front239,1017.28+1.719+19
Bulgaria Without Censorship186,9385.69New15New
Attack148,2624.52–2.811–12
Alternative for Bulgarian Revival136,2234.15New11New
Movement 2139,2211.19New0New
People's Voice37,3351.14–0.200
The Greens19,9900.61–0.100
Republic BG18,9010.58New0New
New Bulgaria12,6280.38New0New
New Alternative11,5830.35–0.200
United Bulgaria10,8310.33New0New
Bulgarian Social Democracy9,4310.29New0New
National Movement for Stability and Progress7,9170.24New0New
Party of the Greens7,4560.23New0New
The Rights7,2340.22New0New
Left and the Green Party7,0100.21–0.000
Bulgarian National Union – New Democracy5,5590.17New0New
New Force5,5530.17New0New
Social Democratic Party5,3980.16+0.100
Community for New Bulgaria4,6150.14New0New
New Time3,8360.12New0New
Independents1,1850.04New0New
Total3,283,165100.002400
Valid votes3,283,16593.77
Invalid/blank votes218,1256.23
Total votes3,501,290100.00
Registered voters/turnout7,071,39549.51
Source: CIK


Voter demographics

Gallup exit polling suggested the following demographic breakdown. The parties which received below 4% of the vote are included in 'Others':

Voter demographics[14]
Social group % GERB % BSP % DPS % RB % PF % BBT % Ataka % ABV % Others % Lead
Exit Poll Result 34 16 12 9.5 6 6 5 5 6.5 18
Final Result 32.7 15.4 14.8 8.9 7.3 5.7 4.5 4.2 6.5 17.3
Gender
Men 34 14 13 9 7 6 7 4 6 18
Women 35 17 11 10 6 6 3 5 7 18
Age
18–30 35 8 16 12 5 7 4 3 10 19
30-60 37 13 12 12 6 6 5 5 4 24
60+ 26 35 8 6 7 3 6 5 4 9
Highest Level of Education
Lower Education 19 21 35 3 4 6 6 1 5 14
Secondary Education 36 16 12 7 7 7 5 4 6 20
Higher Education 37 15 2 15 7 4 4 6 10 22
Ethnic Group
Bulgarian 38 17 1 11 8 6 6 5 8 21
Turkic 6 2 84 3 0 1 0 1 3 78
Roma 20 22 36 3 1 8 4 1 5 14
Location
Towns and Villages 24 18 31 4 3 6 6 4 4 7
Smaller Cities 32 19 7 8 7 8 6 4 9 13
Larger Cities 41 13 4 10 8 6 5 5 8 28
Sofia 36 15 1 21 6 2 4 6 9 15

Reactions

Following his party's election victory, Borisov stated that his party would try to form the next government and that he "want[s] to govern, in person".[15]

Government formation

The newly elected Assembly met for the first time on 27 October.[16]

After being tasked by President Rosen Plevneliev to form a government, Borisov's GERB allied with the Reformist Bloc to form a government and also had the outside support of the Patriotic Front and the Alternative for Bulgarian Revival. The cabinet of twenty ministers was approved by a majority of 136-97 (with one abstention).[17] Borisov was then chosen as prime minister by an even larger vote of 149-85.[18]

References

  1. ^ a b "Bulgaria's 42nd Parliament Dissolved, Elections on October 5". Novinite.com. Sofia News Agency. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  2. ^ Petrov, Angel. "Bulgaria's Grand Parliament Chessboard Might Be Both Ailment and Cure". Novinite.com. Sofia News Agency. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  3. ^ Bulgarians protests over media magnate as security chief, Reuters, 14 June 2013
  4. ^ Thousands Rally in Bulgaria against Election of Shady Mogul for 'FBI' Head, Novinite, 14 June 2013
  5. ^ (in Bulgarian) Protester says things could change for better (video) Archived 2014-10-06 at the Wayback Machine, bgnes, 14 June 2013
  6. ^ "Bulgarian Co-ruling Party DPS Calls for Early Elections by end-2014". Novinite.com. Sofia News Agency. Retrieved 5 June 2014.
  7. ^ "BSP Leader Stanishev Demands Government Resignation, July Elections". Novinite.com. Sofia News Agency. Retrieved 10 June 2014.
  8. ^ "President Plevneliev Urges Outgoing Parliament to Review Budget". Novinite.com. Sofia News Agency. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  9. ^ "Bulgarian Gov't to Resign between July 23, 25 - PM Oresharski". Novinite.com. Sofia News Agency. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  10. ^ "Bulgaria's PM Plamen Oresharski Resigns". Novinite.com. Sofia News Agency. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  11. ^ "Bulgarian Parliament Approves Government Resignation". Novinite.com. Sofia News Agency. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  12. ^ "Seven Coalitions, 22 Parties to Run in Bulgaria's Early Elections". Novinite.com. Sofia News Agency. Archived from the original on 10 December 2015. Retrieved 22 August 2014.
  13. ^ "Elections Campaign in Bulgaria To Start On Friday". Novinite.com. Sofia News Agency. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015. Retrieved 8 September 2014.
  14. ^ "Демографски профили на вота – 12 July". Галъп интернешънъл (in Bulgarian). 2021-07-12. Retrieved 2014-06-10.
  15. ^ Sturdee, Simon. "Deflated Bulgarian strongman vows to form government". news.yahoo.com. Yahoo - ABC News Network. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
  16. ^ Bulgaria's 43th [sic] National Assembly to be inaugurated todayКопирано от standartnews.com Archived 2015-09-24 at the Wayback Machine Standart, 27 October 2014
  17. ^ "Bulgarian MPs Approve New Cabinet, Ministers Sworn In". Novinite.com. Sofia News Agency. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
  18. ^ "Bulgaria's Parliament Approves New Government". abcnews.go.com. ABC News Internet Ventures. Retrieved 7 November 2014.
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