Bulgarians Rejoice as Ex-Communists Trail in Voting
About 50,000 Bulgarians took to the streets Monday to celebrate an opposition group’s claim of victory in parliamentary elections that could oust the government of former Communists.
“You are free! The age of communism in Bulgaria is over,” said Filip Dmitrov, leader of the Union of Democratic Forces and its candidate for prime minister.
But the Bulgarian Socialist Party, which won elections in June, 1990, seemed likely to hold more than a third of the 240 Parliament seats, enabling it to block key legislation.
Socialist leader Alexander Lilov refused to concede defeat, telling his supporters that the counting was not over.
According to projections by the local Gallup International affiliate, the Union of Democratic Forces won 36% of the vote compared with 32% for the Socialists, or former Communists. Final returns from Sunday’s vote are not due until late in the week.
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