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Bulgaria's former President Rumen Radev was on course for a decisive parliamentary election win on April 19, according to exit-poll reporting from The Japan Times and Japan Today. The reports said his Progressive Bulgaria coalition opened a commanding lead over Boyko Borissov's GERB, but the early numbers also pointed to a harder second question: whether he can turn that lead into a governing majority.
Key developments
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Reuters-cited exit polls from Alpha Research put Progressive Bulgaria at 37.5% and GERB at 16.2%, a gap large enough to redraw Bulgaria's political map even before official results are finalized.
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Radev resigned from the presidency in January to enter the race, moving from a mostly ceremonial role into a direct bid for power. His campaign focused on corruption, public frustration with entrenched elites, and the promise of a more durable government.
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The April 19 vote followed the fall of the previous government after mass protests in December. That made this Bulgaria's eighth election in five years, underlining how deeply voters have turned against repeated coalition failures and short-lived cabinets.
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Radev's foreign-policy stance remains one of the most closely watched parts of the story. The coverage in The Japan Times and Japan Today described him as pro-Russian or eurosceptic and noted that he has opposed military support for Ukraine while arguing for renewed dialogue with Moscow.
What to watch
The next update is the official count, but coalition math may matter more than the finishing order. Reuters reporting cited by the two outlets said Radev would still need partners to control a majority if the exit-poll numbers hold, meaning the real contest could begin after election night rather than end with it.
That is the unresolved piece behind the apparent surge. Bulgaria's crisis has not just been about who tops the vote, but who can keep a cabinet alive. If Radev cannot assemble a stable coalition, the country could remain stuck in the election cycle he campaigned against. If he can, Sofia may be headed for its biggest political reset in years.
Sources
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