Bulgarian voters go to the polls on Sunday for the country’s fifth round of elections in April 2022, but people have little hope that Sunday’s parliamentary election will produce a stable government capable of fighting corruption, inflation and poverty, Reuters reports.

The vote was announced in January after three attempts by various political groups to form an effective coalition following an inconclusive vote in October.

The country has been in political limbo since mass protests in 2020 and is largely governed by governments appointed by President Rumen Radev.

Bulgarians are disappointed

The political upheaval has already delayed the country’s ambitions to join the euro zone in 2024 and could further hamper its efforts to effectively use funds to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic and tackle the rising cost of living.

“It seems the politicians in parliament can’t get along,” said Andrii Kekhayov, 29, whose parents keep sheep in Devina, a town of 7,000 north of the Greek border. “We need a stable government and they’re arguing… It’s stupid.”

“In the last year or two, life has gone bad. Inflation is quite high, the increase in fuel and energy is affecting us… animal feed has tripled in price,” said Kehayov, who is a party activist of the Movement of Ethnic Turks. for rights and freedoms (RPS).

While prices in Europe remain unchanged, consumer prices in Bulgaria rose by 16% in February.

“It’s good for people to vote, but at the moment I don’t see any politician who wants to change something in this country,” said Maryana Kegayova, Andriy’s mother.

The results of the elections on October 2 last year did not give any party a governing majority. After three attempts by various political parties out of the seven that entered the parliament, it was not possible to form a coalition government, and President Rumen Radev had no choice but to call another early election for April 2, 2023.

The latest polls show that the electoral blocs GERB-SBS, led by Boyko Borisov, and PP-DB, led by Kyril Petkov and Asen Vasilev, will compete for the largest number of seats in parliament, News.ro reports.

Two former prime ministers, anti-corruption fighter Kyril Petkov and conservative populist Boyko Borisov, are battling for victory in Bulgaria’s general election on Sunday.

According to polls, the formations led by them can gain approximately 25% of the vote, which is probably not enough for any of them to form a government coalition with other parties to end the political instability of the Balkan country, he said. EFE.

Who is Kirill Petkov?

A Harvard-educated entrepreneur and advocate of “zero tolerance” for corruption, Petkov intends to make Bulgaria an example of transparency to “root out the thieves” who steal some 2,000 million euros of public money every year.

The leader of the new Continue Change (PP) party served as prime minister from December 2021 to July 2022 after being prime minister last June in a no-confidence vote by GERB, Borissov’s party.

Against all odds, 42-year-old Petkov won the elections in the fall of 2021, winning the hearts of many voters with his upbeat and positive rhetoric, as well as his experience as a successful businessman.

His mission is to put an end to the “Borisov political model” that has dominated the past decade and is considered close to the local mafia and oligarchy.

Nicknamed the “John Travolta of Bulgaria” or the “Emmanuel Macron of the Balkans”, Petkov was born on April 17, 1980 in Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s second largest city.

He spent his childhood in Sofia, where his parents were teachers. He graduated from a prestigious English school when his parents immigrated to Canada in 1994.

Joining his parents in Vancouver, he earned a degree in finance from the University of British Columbia, followed by an MBA from Harvard, USA, as one of the top students in his class.

Petkov specialized in the development of business strategies, and also taught courses on economic development and the microeconomics of competitiveness at Harvard.

Although he runs a successful business in Canada and the USA, Petkov decided to return to Bulgaria 15 years ago with his Canadian wife, with whom he has three daughters.

As an entrepreneur, he develops projects in the field of innovation with high added value, with successful businesses in the development of probiotics and biotechnology.

Boyko Borisov became prime minister for the fourth time?

“Fraudsters. They persecuted us, but we survived,” says Boyko Borisov, who remains unclear on whether he wants to become Bulgaria’s prime minister for a fourth time.

The populist conservative dominated Bulgarian politics from 2009 to 2021 as prime minister in various administrations.

The former firefighter, karateka, security guard, policeman and mayor of Sofia, known to his followers as “Batman”, blames Petkov and his entourage for causing high inflation, which prevents Bulgaria from joining the euro zone.

63-year-old Borisov adheres to the image of a “man of action” and at the same time a “man of the people” who knows how to speak clearly and not hide his humble origin.

Even his critics recognize his charisma, although they accuse him of populism, inconsistent activities and politics without a clear strategy, as well as constant change of views and positions.

Born in the suburbs of the capital, Borisov is not ashamed to use street language, sometimes frankly rude and masculine, although he considers himself an honest, sociable and hardworking person.

With the advent of democracy in 1990, he opened his own security company and was a bodyguard for former communist dictator Todor Zhivkov and later Prime Minister Simeon of Saxe-Coburg.

Divorced, with a daughter and two grandchildren, Borisov entered politics with the help of Simeon, who in 2001 appointed him to the post of general secretary of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

In December 2006, he founded his own party GERB, and three years later he took the oath of prime minister for the first time.

On Sunday, polling stations will open at 07:00 local time (as in Romania) and voting will continue until 20:00 or until the number of voters is exhausted.