Brussels, 17/05/2013 (Agence Europe) - The centre-right party of former Bulgarian prime minister Boiko Borissov, the GERB, which arrived slightly in the lead in the country's general elections on Sunday 12 May, called on 16 May for annulment of the election results and the holding of fresh elections on the grounds that it had been penalised by violation of the election regulations. On 13 May, the Bulgarian socialist party, which came second in the polls, said that the vote had been manipulated by its opponents in the GERB.
Borissov said on 16 May that his party had been penalised by the announcement on Saturday 11 May, a day on which electioneering is banned, that 350,000 false voting papers had been found in a printshop belonging to a local GERB elected official, explains Reuters. The announcement was made by the country's prosecutor and was followed by press conferences by two political parties - the socialists and representatives of the Turkish-speaking minority - in violation of election rules. Borissov has brushed aside any idea of his involvement, saying that the prosecutor's announcement had cost his party five or six percentage points. He said that on 16 or 17 May, the GERB would be appealing to Bulgaria's constitutional court for annulment of the elections. No clear majority emerged in the 12 May elections. (SP/transl.fl)