GERB Officials React to Bulgarian Presidential Election Results
Former GERB lawmaker Delyan Dobrev reacted to the Bulgarian presidential election results by writing on Facebook, “Good thing we don’t have a candidate! There was a danger of winning!” 24chasa.bg reported. Dobrev’s remarks followed the release of parallel vote counts from nearly all sociological agencies after Sunday’s election.
The post underscored internal divisions within the GERB party regarding whether to field a presidential contender. Dobrev had publicly advocated for putting forward a prominent party figure, listing names such as Burgas Mayor Dimitar Nikolov, Tomislav Donchev, and Rosen Zhelyazkov at a party meeting in late August. In contrast, former Finance Minister Vladislav Goranov argued against nominating a candidate to avoid what he termed a “fratricidal war” on the right, according to 24chasa.bg. Party leader Boyko Borisov ultimately decided against fielding a GERB candidate, stating that doing so would only benefit Iliyana Yotova.
Other GERB figures also commented on the preliminary outcomes and the historically low voter turnout on October 25. Toma Bikovsk wrote on Facebook that Yotova’s main opponent was actually Rumen Radev, Mediapool.bg reported. Meanwhile, lawmaker Georg Georgiyev pointed to a sharp drop in support for Radev’s camp, questioning where the substantial lead predicted by pre-election polls had gone.
GERB Rejects Making Endorsements for the Presidential Runoff
Following the first round of voting, GERB leader Boyko Borisov announced that his party would not offer unsolicited support to any candidate for the upcoming presidential runoff. Speaking at a party event in Kюстендил, Borisov attributed the low voter turnout to a general lack of a unifying figure who could serve as a national unifier and commander-in-chief, Mediapool.bg reported. Borisov cast his own ballot late Sunday afternoon in Bankya, explaining to reporters that he voted as the leader of a right-wing party to uphold democratic values.
Parallel counts indicated a tight race at the top, with Market Links data placing the independent ticket of Andrey Gyurov and Georgi Kandev narrowly ahead of Iliyana Yotova and Kiril Valchev by 0.8%, while other agencies showed Yotova leading by a minimal margin. Despite these figures, GERB’s leadership maintained its hands-off stance regarding the second round, leaving party members and supporters without a centralized voting directive from leadership.
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