site.btaReformist Bloc Remains United despite Poor Election Showing

Reformist Bloc Remains United despite Poor Election Showing

Sofia, March 29 (BTA) - Meeting on Wednesday, the coordination board of the right-wing Reformist Bloc concluded that its showing in Sunday's parliamentary elections was poor, and adopted the resignation of the political board.

The coalition won 3.06 per cent in the elections, well below the 4 per cent barrier for entry in the legislature.

The Bloc's Spokesperson, Peter Moskov, said after the nearly three-hour meeting: "The Reformist Bloc remains united, talks should start very soon, and if a new format is needed, we should be ready for it." He added that in his view, Yes, Bulgaria and the right-wing New Republic, which polled less than 3 per cent of the vote each, were now unlikely to refuse to join forces with the Bloc.

Nayden Zelenogorski, deputy leader of the coalition's Bulgaria for the Citizens Movement, said the right-wing parties should seek agreement because "we can't keep making the same mistake, leaving 300,000 right-wing voters" unrepresented in Parliament. He added that the Reformist Bloc would continue to press for judicial reform and a fight against corruption.

In contrast, Rumen Hristov, deputy leader of another party of the coalition, the Union of Democratic Forces, is not optimistic for the future of the Reformist Bloc. He expressed a hope that the right-wing parties would find the way to unity, but was not convinced the Reformist Bloc would be central to this. He assumed that if the right-wing parties had run for Parliament together, they would have had the third largest group of about 40 MPs.

In the 2014 parliamentary elections, the Reformist Bloc ran as a five-party coalition and had the fourth largest group in Parliament.