site.btaReformist Bloc Striving to Be Second Political Force

Reformist Bloc Striving to Be Second Political Force

Sofia, November 1 (BTA) - Addressing a news conference after the second round of voting in the local elections, Bozhidar Loukarski said that the Reformist Bloc are not pleased with their showing because they are not the second political force.

Democrats for Strong Bulgaria leader Radan Kanev said that the showing of the Reformist Bloc in the elections runoff was "a categorical victory in regional centres". He said that the Reformist Bloc has won in Pleven and Dobrich and voiced expectations that 50 per cent of borough mayors in Sofia will be from the Reformist Bloc.

Kanev said that ten per cent of municipal councillors in the country are from the Reformist Bloc as well as some 10 per cent of mayors of regional centres. He called the vote in Pleven is a "political breakthrough" and that in Dobrich "an exceptional success" as the Bloc had no expectations.

Kanev said that by supporting GERB in many places the Reformist Bloc achieved one of its big goals: to sweep the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) out of their strongholds in regional centres. Kanev said that the MRF has lost some of its influence in local power.

According to Korman Ismailov, these elections were the most difficult for the Reformist Bloc but despite the conflicts and struggle within and between the parties in the Bloc, the results were good. In his words, the Bloc showed that it has potential.