Opposition Parties in Balkans Gain

Bulgarian opposition candidate Petar Stoyanov was the clear favorite over Socialist candidate Ivan Marazov as their countrymen chose a new president Sunday. The elections were seen as a gauge of the level of public anger with crime and economic woes.

With 25% of the vote counted, the official BTA news agency said Stoyanov had 61.9% of the vote to 38.1% for Marazov. Official results are expected by Wednesday.

Meanwhile in Romania, early exit polls showed the opposition winning parliamentary elections, a shift that would force President Ion Iliescu and his allies to share power for the first time since communism fell nearly seven years ago.

Iliescu, a former Communist, came out ahead in the presidential vote, beating his center-right rival Emil Constantinescu by 33% to 30%, according to one exit poll. A Nov. 17 runoff appeared certain.

In the Parliament, the opposition wrested the absolute majority of seats from the Social Democracy Party, on whose ticket Iliescu ran, the poll said. Preliminary official results were expected today.