Bulgaria swings right, punishes Socialists for corruption (Roundup)

Jul 6, 2009, 11:37 GMT

Sofia - Bulgarian conservative GERB party leader Boyko Borissov said he was set to take over and review suspicious deals made by outgoing authorities a day after his party smashed the corruption-plagued Socialist party in polls.

Founded only three years ago and untested in previous elections in Bulgaria, GERB won 40 per cent of the votes, which translates to some 116 out of the 240 seats in the parliament. Borisov, the colourful mayor of Sofia who was also Bulgaria's karate team coach, a bodyguard, fireman and an interior ministry official, said he was 'assuming responsibility for Bulgaria's future' and promised to put a cabinet together swiftly.

'I don't have the right not to lead Bulgaria's next government,' he said, warning against expectations of 'miracles' and stressing that 'we didn't promise any.'

Borisov did promise to launch probes into 'shadowy deals' of the Socialist administration of outgoing Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev.

Another centre-right bloc, the Blue Coalition, immediately offered allegiance and the 20 seats it won in parliament to Borisov.

'Bulgarians ... voted for GERB and the Blue Coalition. Bulgaria is a new, better country today,' said a coalition leader, Martin Dimitrov.

Though Stanishev led Bulgaria to European Union membership in 2007, his Socialists paid the price for failing to curb rampant corruption and crime and won only 17.7 per cent of the votes.

Widespread abuse led the EU to suspend or cancel 1 billion dollars in aid to Bulgaria last year, which has badly hurt the cash-strapped nation, particularly as its economy also went into reverse.

Angered Bulgarians harshly punished one of Stanishev's junior partners, the National Movement party of former premier and abdicated king Simeon II, ousting it from the parliament with just 2 per cent of the votes going its way.

Simeon, who returned from decades of exile after abdicating to become Bulgaria's premier before Stanishev, resigned as the party leader on Monday over the 'unexpectedly disheartening defeat.'

While saying he was accepting the verdict of the voters, Stanishev blamed the global economic crisis and accused right-wing opponents at playing with nationalism in attacks on his coalition partners, the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) from the Turkish minority.

Unlike the other two parties from the government coalition, DPS held steady at 14.5 per cent by leaning on its ethnic Turkish reservoir of votes, to the outrage of Bulgarian nationalists.

The fiercely xenophobic, anti-EU party won 9.4 per cent, while another new right-wing party called Order, Law, Justice only just cleared the 4- per cent hurdle and qualified for the legislature.