Bulgaria will have, for the first time, a woman in the post of President of the Republic. Iliana Yotova has won the presidential runoff, securing a considerable lead over her pro-Western rival, Andrei Gurov.
Bulgarian citizens have elected Iliana Yotova as the country’s new president, in an electoral process that marks a historic moment for Bulgaria, as she becomes the first woman to hold the country’s highest state office.
According to the reported results, with 99.95% of polling stations counted, Yotova has secured 57.58% of the votes, while her opponent, the pro-Western candidate Andrei Gurov, has received 39.47%. Meanwhile, 2.95% of voters chose the “None of the above” option.
However, one of the elements accompanying the electoral process has been low turnout. Only about 1.1 million voters took part in the decisive round, raising questions about citizens’ engagement in this political process.
The runoff was held after the first round on October 25, when none of the candidates managed to secure the majority needed to win the election outright. At that stage, Yotova and her vice-presidential candidate Kirill Valchev had received 34.6% of the votes, while Andrei Gurov and Georgy Kandev had secured 32%.
Yotova, who previously served as vice president, took up the post of acting president in January, following the resignation of Rumen Radev.