Bulgaria votes in presidential poll

President Stoyanov is facing a battle

By Polia Alexandrova

SOFIA, Bulgaria -- Bulgarians are casting their votes in a run-off round of the presidential election, pitting the country's popular president against the leader of the opposition socialists.

While pollsters had expected President Petar Stoyanov to easily walk away with a victory in the first round, he was stymied by a surprisingly low voter turnout and an unexpectedly strong showing by Socialist Party leader Georgi Parvanov.

Parvanov actually came out on top in the first round on 11 November, taking more than 36 percent of the popular vote, while Stoyanov placed a close second with almost 35 percent.

The result set the stage for a showdown in the runoff, on Sunday.

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Bulgarian law requires a candidate to win at least 50 percent of the vote for an outright victory in the first round.

While the presidency is largely a ceremonial post in Bulgaria, it carries a great deal of prestige and is important for the country's international image.

Some observers blamed Stoyanov's surprisingly weak showing on the low turnout, which amounted to around 40 percent -- the lowest voter participation rate in a presidential election since the collapse of communism in the country.

Analysts said voters in this Balkan country appeared to be sending a message of protest to the political elite over declining living standards.

But the president's campaign may also have been marred by a round of mudslinging leading up to the first round of voting.

Another candidate, former Interior Minister Bogomil Bonev, accused Stoyanov of accepting a donation from a sponsor allegedly connected to Russian organized crime.

The president dismissed the charges as groundless and produced his own set of allegations against Bonev.

Parvanov, who ran on the ticket of the leftist Coalition for Bulgaria, which includes the country's ex-communist Socialist Party, greeted the first-round result as a sign that Bulgarians are not satisfied with the status quo.

"The elections have shown that people want a change, including a change in the presidential institution," he said.

He added that the low turnout was "a new, hard lesson for the parties and the candidates, the power holders, and the entire political elite."

He added: "Another lesson is that people are not motivated because their life is getting worse by the day."

The 49-year-old Stoyanov, who ran as an independent but received the backing of the governing Simeon II National Movement (NDSV) and the opposition Union of Democratic Forces (ODS), said after the vote he was confident his supporters would come around in the second round and that the people who did not vote would have greater motivation to do so in the runoff.

Both Stoyanov and Parvanov support the country's goal of joining the European Union and NATO.

But the 44-year-old Parvanov has sought to differentiate himself from the incumbent by emphasizing that he would also work to rebuild the country's relations with its Balkan neighbors, Russia, and the Middle East.

Parvanov also tried to counter Stoyanov's popularity with what he described as an "American-style campaign" designed to portray the socialist leader as a modern politician who keeps up to date with the latest technological developments.

In a recent report on Bulgaria's progress toward accession, the EU praised the country's reform efforts but also indicated that Bulgaria and its neighbor, Romania, would probably not be ready to join the EU by 2004, when the first wave of postcommunist candidate countries are expected to be allowed in.