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Upset for Bulgaria's socialists Bulgaria opposition wins election
(about 7 hours later)
Exit polls in Bulgaria indicate the centre-right party led by ex-body guard and Mayor of Sofia Boiko Borisov is heading for a significant victory. The centre-right opposition party led by Sofia Mayor Boiko Borisov has won Bulgaria's parliamentary election by a wide margin, preliminary results show.
His Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) looks set to take 40% of the vote - more than double the result of the ruling Socialist Party. With 99.88% of ballots counted, the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (Gerb) have 39.7% of the vote, 22% more than the governing Socialists.
But the BBC's Europe correspondent says while it will be a remarkable win, it is not enough for GERB to govern alone. But a BBC correspondent says that while it is a remarkable win, it is not enough for Gerb to govern alone.
Mr Borisov promised to end corruption and tackle the economic downturn. Mr Borisov has vowed to end corruption and tackle the economic downturn.
It has been Bulgaria's first election since joining the European Union two years ago. "Those who have stolen should be very afraid... The thieves will go to jail," the 50-year-old former bodyguard told reporters, adding that "updating the budget was the first thing" his government would do.
Last year, Bulgaria lost access to some of its EU funds for failing to deal with graft and organised crime. Last year, Bulgaria lost access to more than 500m euros (£430m) of EU funding for failing to deal with corruption and organised crime.
Sergei Stanishev had hoped taking the country into the EU would win votes 'Serious loss'
The BBC's Nick Thorpe says Bulgarians have a habit of voting governments out of office, doing so at each general election for the past 19 years.The BBC's Nick Thorpe says Bulgarians have a habit of voting governments out of office, doing so at each general election for the past 19 years.
According to exit polls, Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev's Socialist Party is trailing far behind, with between 17% and 19% of the vote. Sergei Stanishev has been accused of failing to tackle corruption
The ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms are placed third with around 12% and the ultra-nationalist Ataka party fourth, with 9%. In the first election since joining the EU two years ago, the pattern was repeated with Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev's Socialists winning only 17.72% of the votes. In the last election in 2005, they won 33.98%.
The exit polls give around 8% to Mr Borisov's preferred coalition partner, the Blue Coalition. Mr Stanishev conceded victory to Gerb and congratulated Mr Borisov after nationwide exit polls were published on Sunday night.
A stable governing coalition needs at least 121 seats in the 240 seat parliament. "The results show that the Socialist Party has suffered a serious loss," he said.
The first official results are expected early on Monday. The ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), a junior coalition partner in the outgoing government, came third with 14.47% and the ultra-nationalist Ataka party fourth, with 9.37%.
Mr Borisov's preferred coalition partner, the Blue Coalition, won 6.73%, followed by the Order, Lawfulness, Justice party with 4.13%.
Gerb also won 26 additional seats in the 240-member parliament in the first direct elections in each of the 31 constituencies. The remaining 209 seats are allocated on a proportional basis.
The electoral commission said on Monday that the provisional results gave Gerb 116 seats in parliament, five short of a majority. Mr Borisov later said he would form a coalition government.