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Bulgaria to vote in election beset by fraud fears 12/05/2013 09:15 CET Bulgarian’s go to the polls 12/05/2013 10:45 CET Bulgarian vote in time of deep trouble 09/05/2013 18:53 CET Bulgaria’s currency – hardship and suffering 12/04/2013 12:20 CET Bonus interview: Haralan Aleksandrov 12/04/2013 12:18 CETBulgaria’s two main parties are heading for a photo finish in snap elections marred by scandal.
Prosecutors seized 350,000 extra ballot papers which exceeded the legal limit at a printing shop just a day before the vote was opened.
The owner of the press was a member of the centre-right GERB party whose government resigned from office following mass protests over living conditions and corruption in February.
President Rosen Asenov Plevniev called on the Election Commission to ensure democratic elections could be carried out adding that emergency measures could be taken.
GERB have denied all wrongdoing and asked that all speculation be dropped. Fears of irregularities have led the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) to send its largest election observation force since 1990.
Socialist opposition candidate, Sergei Stanishev, whose party is in close competition with GERB, noted the 350,000 papers represented 25 seats in parliament.
The former Prime Minister Borisov Boyko’s party may still clinch victory, though he will likely be forced into an uneasy coalition.
Bulgaria is Europe’s poorest company and struggls to supply water and electricity to its 6.8 million citizens.
With a voter turnout expected at 50% and allegations of fraud, it looks unlikely that elections will solve Bulgaria’s economic woes.
More about: Bulgaria, Bulgarian politics, Legislative electionCopyright © 2013 euronews
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