Bulgaria's Main Ruling Party Loses Majority in Sofia Municipal Council

With 75 % of the ballot papers processed, it seems that Bulgaria's main ruling party, GERB, will lose the majority it has enjoyed in the municipal council of Sofia.

Prior to the local elections, which were held in Bulgaria on Sunday, GERB had 33 out of 61 municipal councillors in the capital.

The partial count shows that the candidates of GERB have garnered 42.9 % of the votes cast in Sofia.

The candidates of the junior coalition partner, the Reformist Bloc (RF), have garnered 16.73 % of the votes, while the largest opposition party, BSP, received 9.87 % of the votes.

Thus BSP, which enjoyed the second highest number of municipal councillors - 15, has dropped to third position.

One of the parties constituting the Patriotic Front, VMRO, comes fourth with 4.78 % of the votes, followed by coalition Serdica, composed of left-wing ABV and Bulgarian Social Democrats.

The sixth place is surprisingly occupied by People's Voice, which is led by popular Bulgarian musician Svetoslav Vitkov.

Nationalist Ataka is seventh with 3.06 % of the votes, followed by Movement 21 with 2.16 % of the votes, the Greens with 2.1 % of the votes and the other party constituting the PF - NFSB.

The incumbent mayor, Yordanka Fandakova of GERB, was reelected to a third consecutive term with 60.13 % of the votes.

Despite her convincing victory, Fandakova is likely to experience difficulties working with a municipal council composed of so many parties.