Rumen Radev's coalition wins a majority in Bulgaria

Preliminary results from Bulgaria's election showed the Progressive Bulgaria coalition winning a majority of seats. The coalition is led by former president Rumen Radev. It is described as left-wing, nationalist, and populist. The vote filled 240 seats in the National Assembly.

Bulgaria's National Assembly is the country's parliament. A majority of seats means the coalition can form a government without relying on rivals for a bare survival, if the preliminary count holds. Preliminary results are an early official picture that can be adjusted when the final protocol is published. The election was the nation's eighth since April 2021.

Rumen Radev is a former president, which in Bulgaria is a head-of-state office distinct from the prime minister who leads the government. Leading a coalition into a parliamentary majority moves him from that earlier role toward control of the assembly. Progressive Bulgaria is the name of the coalition. The report calls it soft eurosceptic in the account of the campaign, and left-wing nationalist and populist in the account of the result.

The assembly has 240 seats. The report says the coalition secured a majority and does not give the exact seat number. It also does not name every party inside the coalition. Voters cast ballots the day before the preliminary results were released.

Repeated elections since 2021 have been a feature of Bulgarian politics when governments could not be formed or could not last. An eighth election in that span is the setting of this result. A majority, if confirmed, is a break from parliaments that had no clear winner. The report presents the majority as what the preliminary count showed.

Rumen Radev's Progressive Bulgaria coalition led the preliminary count with a majority of the 240 seats. The coalition is the left-wing nationalist and populist force in the race. The election was Bulgaria's eighth since April 2021. The early results were reported on April 20.