Georgi Karasimeonov(Ed.) BA R O M E T ER Bulgaria’s Political Parties Year 14, Issue 3, July- October 2014 The early parliamentary elections held on 5 October resulted in eight parties and coali­tions entering in parliament. 32.6% of the electorate voted for GERB, 15.29% for the coalition“BSP- Left Bulgaria,” 14.91% of voters supported DPS, 8.91% the Reformists’ Block, and 7.29% the Patriotic Front. The National Assembly will also include Bulgaria Uncensored, which won 5.65% of the electoral vote, Ataka- with 4.54% and ABC- with 4.18%. These results mean a severe fragmentation of Parliament and will make negotia­tions on forming the next government very difficult. GERB won the elections with a convincing lead over BSP, but the result is far below expectations in terms of the number of MPs. Te party will have below 90 MPs, which makes it impossible to form a center-right coalition with the participation of the Re­formists’ Block alone. Thus, GERB will have to seek other coalition partners. The par­ty left the door open for all parties, except Ataka and Bulgaria Uncensored. Radan Kanev, from the Reformers, declared that he would not support a GERB cabinet with Borisov as Prime Minister. Perhaps this particular issue will become the cornerstone for forming a government. BSP suffered a severe defeat. The party received about half a million votes- its weakest result in parliamentary elections so far. This raises questions about the need for urgent reforms and changes within the party. ABC’s entry into the National Assembly breaks the recent monopoly of BSP over the political space to the left and shows that the Left is in a new phase of its development. Whether this new path will be one of division and fragmentation or one of unification will depend entirely on the Left’s leaders. Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Office Bulgaria Analyses