Nihal Yuzergan of Progressive Bulgaria accused pollsters of lulling the party's voters into complacency with forecasts of a sure win. She says that is why the gap between Iliana Yotova and Andrey Gyurov in the first round of the presidential election is small. Yuzergan expects stronger turnout for Yotova in the run-off.
Earlier today, sociologist Andrey Raychev called turnout in the first round the lowest in any election campaign in Bulgaria.
Previously: Raychev: Lowest voter turnout so far is an extraordinary event
Yotova, whom Progressive Bulgaria backs, leads after the first round. Former caretaker prime minister Gyurov is second. The gap is smaller than expected, and Yotova got far fewer votes than the party won in the parliamentary election in April.
Yuzergan does not think the party took the vote lightly. She said the weak result was because party branches were still being built during the campaign itself, and supporters were not mobilised enough. A large share of voters did not vote, probably believing Yotova would win without them.
She does not rule out a protest vote against the government either: there are problems, and people feel insecure. The party's voters are a mixed group, she said, with both left-wing and right-wing voters backing it in April.
The party did not look hard enough for votes among Bulgarian emigrants, Yuzergan admitted, when the talk turned to support for Yotova in areas with a mostly Turkish population and among voters in Turkey. She says the party should criticise itself for not going to Turkey.
Yuzergan accused DPS – New Beginning of using investigations into its people to create an impression of ethnic tension. She says investigators are not targeting any ethnic or religious community.
Yotova's result should not be underestimated, Yuzergan stressed: she is the winner, whether she wins by one vote or by 3%, and that is the news of 26 October. In the run-off, Yotova will also count on voters for whom peace and security come first. Yuzergan compared Yotova's experience as an MP, MEP and vice president with that of Gyurov.
There was also criticism of how the decision was made on the military cooperation agreement with Ukraine, signed while Gyurov led the caretaker government.
On the case of journalist Sonya Koltukliyeva, who fell in an incident near a guarded politician, Yuzergan proposed a public debate on how far the freedom of journalism goes and whether provocation can be a norm in the profession. Journalists must follow professional ethics, she believes, including when they seek answers from senior politicians.