Politicians comment on the Presidential Election results

According to exit polls conducted by sociological agencies, the ticket of Iliana Iotova and Kiril Valchev has won the second round of Bulgaria’s presidential election, while the ticket of Andrey Gyurov and Georgi Kandev has come second. Iliana Iotova thus becomes Bulgaria’s seventh president and the first woman to be elected head of state in a democratic vote.

Here are some of the reactions from Bulgarian politicians to the election results:

“Bulgaria will be more stable and more at ease following the election of its president.” This was stated by Petar Vitanov of Progressive Bulgaria, a member of Iliana Iotova’s initiative committee, after the run-off between Iotova and Andrey Gyurov, BGNES reported.

“I have known Iliana Iotova for ten years and I am confident that she will be a worthy president of Bulgaria,” said Prime Minister Rumen Radev, who also leads Progressive Bulgaria, commenting on Iliana Iotova’s victory in the presidential election, BNT reported.

“Andrey Gyurov and Georgi Kandev have a great political future ahead of them. They will continue to broaden their support,” said Aleksandrina Pendachanska, co-chair of the initiative committee that nominated Gyurov for president, in an interview with Nova TV.

“We intend to continue fighting to ensure that Bulgarian citizens and their incomes are protected to the greatest possible extent. As you can see, these elections send a very clear signal. I would even call it a red card, showing that this government is failing to deliver, whether on prices, incomes or the fight against oligarchic influence,” said We Continue the Change (PP) leader Assen Vassilev.

He added that the next step would be to examine the state budget and, if necessary, make adjustments “through parliamentary or extra-parliamentary means”.

“The final outcome of the election was determined by the party’s voters. It has now become an unavoidable factor in Bulgarian politics, and anyone who fails to take this into account will lose elections.”

This was the conclusion drawn by party leader Kostadin Kostadinov in a Facebook post. In the first round of the election, his party won 12.5% of the votes.

Edited by Miglena Ivanova