site.btaMRF Wins Municipal Council Elections in Pazardzhik amid Growing Concerns over Electoral Integrity

The Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) has won the municipal council elections in Pazardzhik, securing 17.13% of the vote, according to the results announced by the Municipal Electoral Commission (MEC) after 100% of tally sheets were processed.

Fourteen parties entered the Municipal Council and the seats were allocated as follows: MRF – 8; Continue the Change – Democratic Bulgaria (CC–DB) – 6; Freedom Party – 5; BSP–United Left – 4; the VMRO–Bulgarian National Movement coalition (VMRO–BNM, UFD) – 3; GERB – 3; Morality, Initiative, Patriotism (MIR) – 2; Vazrazhdane – 2; Forward Bulgaria Movement – 2; Direct Democracy – 2; Velichie – 1; Together for a Strong Municipality – 1; George’s Day Movement – 1; and Agrarian People’s Union – 1. 

The elections on Sunday saw a voter turnout of 35.09%, with voters choosing from 597 candidates competing for the 41 available seats. The vote came after the Supreme Administrative Court annulled the municipal council elections held on October 29, 2023, in a ruling issued on July 17. Although CC–DB’s Petar Kulenski won the mayoral race in 2023, he had governed with a fragile and shifting majority in the council, where CC–DB had only four councillors. The previous council dominated by the group around former mayor Todor Popov was reinstated following the court’s decision.

Sunday’s vote was marred by alerts for election violations. The police in Pazardzhik received a total of 34 alerts, with 12 of them related to a case in the village of Ognyanovo, Pazardzhik Region, and 16 concerning suspected vote buying in the regional town and several villages in the municipality - Saraya, Bratanitsa, Mokrishte, Malo Konare, Dragor, and Glavinitsa. Eight of the alerts were for election violations and ten were for illegal campaigning.

Yes, Bulgaria! co-chair Bozhidar Bozhanov said the party would consult with Continue the Change, Democrats for Strong Bulgaria and legal experts about seeking annulment of the election results, citing "unprecedented vote buying."

His fellow co-chair, Ivaylo Mirchev, said that he personally observed voting in one of the villages. "The results show that [MRF – New Beginning leader Delyan] Peevski bought the election once again," Mirchev said, calling it part of a broader process - "on one hand, the capture of institutions, and on the other, the weakening of GERB and the humiliation of [GERB leader Boyko] Borissov, who ended up as the sixth political force in Pazardzhik." He also criticized the Interior Ministry’s handling of the situation, noting that police had found luxury vehicles containing large sums of cash and voting lists in the Roma neighborhood in Ognyanovo but failed to take action. "The police just said everything was fine. Everything is fine, when Peevski controls the Ministry and the prosecution," Mirchev added.

At a news conference on Monday, CC leader Assen Vassilev said his party was reaching out to newly elected councillors who oppose Delyan Peevski and MRF-New Beginning running the town. Vassilev talked about "disgraceful and humiliating scenes, particularly for the regular police officers" in Ognyanovo, and accused Interior Minister Daniel Mitov and the Ministry's leadership of betraying rank-and-file officers by ordering them not to pursue vote buyers. "For an hour and a half they were not allowed to open a car boot. We saw BGN 50 banknotes livestreamed online, yet the Interior Ministry later told a news conference that no crime had occurred and that those individuals were businessmen hiring workers on election day," Vassilev said. He said CC-DB demanded Mitov's resignation.

Pazardzhik Mayor Petar Kulenski said the town needs constructive dialogue and cross-party consensus to take key decisions for the its future.

Vazrazhdane leader Kostadin Kostadinov also reacted, raising concerns about the legitimacy of the election. He said that the local elections in Pazardzhik had showed yet again that "Bulgaria is increasingly falling into the hands of the mafia." "The results clearly show that [Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) leader Delyan] Peevski has taken over GERB’s vote buyers. As a result, he and his proxies have the most municipal councillors. GERB is now the sixth political force," Kostadinov said, adding that his party maintained its previous result.