This Sunday, April 19, Bulgaria will hold snap parliamentary elections — already the eighth in the past five years. Citizens will elect a new National Assembly, which will then form a government and confirm a Prime Minister.
The current acting head of government is Andrey Gyurov, who leads the caretaker cabinet. On the eve of the vote, he announced his intention to significantly intensify the fight against voter bribery and any manipulation of the electoral process.
“According to the head of government, law enforcement agencies have already stepped up their efforts. In recent weeks, more than 200 people have been detained as part of a campaign against voter bribery. Violations were recorded in connection with social subsidy programs for heating and free meals. Cases of disinformation were also documented, in which state payments were attributed to specific political forces,” Gyurov stated.
It was separately reported that a Russian citizen was detained in the city of Stara Zagora on suspicion of attempting to influence the election results through the local electoral commission.
The caretaker government has set itself the goal of ensuring the most honest and transparent electoral process possible in order to restore citizens’ trust in state institutions. Police have already seized hundreds of thousands of euros intended for vote-buying.