site.btaUPDATED Rumen Radev Vows Party Will Do Its Best "Not to Go to Elections Again"

Rumen Radev, the leader of Progressive Bulgaria which leads in Bulgaria's Sunday snap parliamentary elections, vowed that his party will do its best to prevent having to go to the polls again.

According to exit polls, Progressive Bulgaria gets over 37% of the votes, leading far behind runner-up GERB-UDF.

"We will do our best to prevent having to go to the polls. It will be a disaster for Bulgaria, you should understand that. It would mean going from crisis to crisis when what we have to do is work very hard to emerge from these crises."

"Progressive Bulgaria is ready for various options to make sure Bulgaria has a Parliament-elected and stable government," he said when reporters asked him if a minority government is an option. 

He urged the press to wait for the official results - when he will speak again.

"Many parties said that the Supreme Judicial Council needs to be replaced and I expect that they will deliver on their declarations. I hope that we will be looking in the same direction with Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria when we talk about changing the Supreme Judicial Council," said Radev.

He also said: "The expectations are big and so are the hopes, which carries a big responsibility."

His "opinion polls", to use his words, were "the full conference halls and the squares across the country. [What happened] was normal and predictable."

He expressed hope that the Foreign Ministry "will give all Bulgarians abroad an opportunity to vote", and added that there are "huge lines of people waiting to vote in London and in Barcelona". "People want to vote, are willing to wait 3-4 hours and this can only make us happy".

The Foreign Ministry promptly responded with a statement that it is acting "in full compliance with the law to ensure that as many Bulgarian citizens abroad as possible are able to cast their vote".