Bulgaria: Presidential Race

Bulgaria’s presidential vote, to be held on Oct. 23, will decide a successor to Georgi Parvanov whose constitutional two terms as head of state are coming to an end.

The main players in the presidential race are expected to be the ruling party’s (GERB) candidate Rossen Plevneliev, and Ivaylo Kalfin of the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), while independent candidate Meglena Kuneva, a former EU Commissioner for Consumer Protection, stands almost the same chances as Kalfin to enter a runoff, according to Dnevnik, a daily.

Among the candidates is also Volen Siderov, the leader of the ultra-nationalist Ataka party, who reached a second-round runoff in the 2006 elections before being defeated by Parvanov.

The presidential vote will take place alongside Bulgaria’s regional elections.