Conservatives Win EU Vote in Bulgaria

Bulgaria's conservative opposition GERB party bested the ruling Socialists in this weekend's EU vote, setting the stage for renewed political instability in the bloc's poorest country, preliminary results showed Monday.

GERB -- the party of ex-premier Boyko Borisov who was ousted last year amid massive street protests -- won an unexpected 30.5 percent, the central electoral commission announced after over 97 percent of ballots had been counted.

The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP), whose leader Sergey Stanishev is the outgoing chief of the Party of European Socialists, garnered 19.1 percent.

Eve-of-ballot polls had put GERB and BSP neck and neck at around 20 percent.

Many of the 6.5 million eligible voters, disillusioned with widening poverty and corruption, stayed away from the polling stations. Turnout was just 35 percent.

The BSP's ruling partner, the liberal Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), came an expected third with 17.1 percent.

Beyond Strasbourg, however, GERB's victory and the Socialists' drop in support could spell new massive street rallies against Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski's cabinet at home, analysts warned.

The no-nonsense technocrat premier took office in May 2013 following Borisov's ousting, but quickly faced street demonstrations demanding his own resignation over corruption and poverty.

Two more parties passed the minimum threshold: Bulgaria Without Censorship (BBC), a new populist group with 10.6 percent, and the old-school conservative Reformist Bloc with 6.4 percent.

Final results -- including ballots from abroad -- were expected by Wednesday, with the distribution of Bulgaria's 17 seats in the European parliament to be announced by Friday.

GERB was expected to get six or seven seats, ahead of the Socialists' four, the MRF with three or four, and one or two deputies for the remaining two parties.

On Monday, Borisov vowed to bring down Oresharski's government, which already faces a no-confidence vote in parliament on Wednesday -- put forward by GERB.

Whether the government survives the motion will depend largely on support from the unpredictable ultra nationalists Ataka.