| Country: | Bulgaria |
| Previous Election: | 2014 |
| Next Election: | April 2021 |
| Election Date: | 26 March 2017 |
| Seats For Election: | All 240 seats in the National Assembly |
| Majority Seats: | 121 |
| Turnout: | 52.57% |
| Leader1: | Boyko Borisov |
| Party1: | GERB |
| Last Election1: | 84 |
| Seats1: | 95 |
| Percentage1: | 32.65 |
| Party2: | BSP for Bulgaria |
| Leader2: | Korneliya Ninova |
| Last Election2: | 39 |
| Seats2: | 80 |
| Percentage2: | 27.19 |
| Party3: | United Patriots |
| Leader3: | Krasimir Karakachanov |
| Last Election3: | 30 |
| Seats3: | 27 |
| Percentage3: | 9.07 |
| Party4: | Movement for Rights and Freedoms |
| Leader4: | Mustafa Karadayi |
| Last Election4: | 38 |
| Seats4: | 26 |
| Percentage4: | 8.99 |
| Party5: | Volya Movement |
| Leader5: | Veselin Mareshki |
| Last Election5: | New |
| Seats5: | 12 |
| Percentage5: | 4.15 |
| Prime Minister | |
| Before Election: | Ognyan Gerdzhikov |
| Before Image: | Ognyan Gerdzhikov.jpg |
| Before Party: | National Movement for Stability and Progress |
| After Election: | Boyko Borisov |
| After Image: | Boyko Borissov 2017-11-03.jpg |
| After Party: | GERB |
Parliamentary elections were held in Bulgaria on 26 March 2017. They had originally been scheduled for 2018 at the end of the four-year term of the National Assembly. However, following the resignation of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov and the failure of Bulgarian parties to form a government, early elections were called.[1] Borisov resigned following the defeat of Tsetska Tsacheva, the candidate of his GERB party, in the November 2016 presidential elections.[2] [3] The official election campaign began on 24 February.[4]
GERB won a plurality, with 95 of the 240 seats. Borisov was elected Prime Minister again after negotiating a governing coalition.[5]
During the 2016 presidential election campaign, Borisov promised to resign if his party's candidate, Chairperson of the National Assembly Tsetska Tsacheva, lost the election.
On 6 November 2016 Tsacheva finished second in the first round to BSP-backed Major General Rumen Radev, receiving only 22% of the popular vote compared to Radev's 25.4%.[6] Following the result, Borisov reiterated his promise to resign if his party's candidate lost the runoff election a week later. On November 13, 2016, she finished a distant second with only 36.2% of the popular vote compared to Radev's 59.4%.[7]
Borisov, staying true to his campaign promise, subsequently resigned on 14 November.[8] Two days later, the National Assembly voted 218–0 to accept it.[9]
The 240 members of the National Assembly are elected by closed list proportional representation from 31 multi-member constituencies ranging in size from 4 to 16 seats. The electoral threshold is 4%.[10]
Bulgarians abroad were able to vote in 371 voting sections in 70 foreign countries and territories. Some territories were excluded from this provision due to either security concerns (e.g. Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria) or that very few resident Bulgarian nationals resident in the country had submitted requests to be enabled to vote (e.g. Ethiopia, Indonesia, Mongolia, North Korea and Pakistan).[11]
The deadline for political parties to register for the election was 8 February 2017.[12] Despite holding 15 seats in the Assembly, Reload Bulgaria chose not to compete in the election after being initially refused a name change, among other reasons.[13] The list of registered parties is below.[14]
| Party or coalition | Leader | Ideology | European affiliation | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GERB | Boyko Borisov | Conservatism, pro-Europeanism, populism | European People's Party | |
| BSP for Bulgaria | Bulgarian Socialist Party | Korneliya Ninova | Socialism, Social democracy | Party of European Socialists |
| Agrarian Union "Aleksandar Stamboliyski" | Spas Panchev | Agrarianism | ||
| Communist Party of Bulgaria | Aleksandar Paunov | Marxism–Leninism | ||
| New Dawn | Mincho Minchev | Left-wing nationalism | ||
| Ecoglasnost | Green politics, Environmentalism | |||
| Trakia | ||||
| DPS | Mustafa Karadaya | Liberal democracy, Bulgarian Turk's minority rights and interests | Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe | |
| United Patriots | National Front for the Salvation of Bulgaria | Valeri Simeonov | Bulgarian ultranationalism, national conservatism, Euroscepticism | Movement for a Europe of Liberties and Democracy |
| Attack | Volen Siderov | Bulgarian nationalism, Euroscepticism | Identity, Tradition, Sovereignty | |
| IMRO – Bulgarian National Movement | Krasimir Karakachanov | Bulgarian ultranationalism, national conservatism | European Conservatives and Reformists | |
| Average European Class | Georgi Manev | Economic liberalism, Pro-Europeanism, populism | ||
| Union of the Patriotic Forces "Defense" | Nikolay Zahariev | Bulgarian nationalism | ||
| Reformist Bloc | Bulgarian Agrarian National Union | Nikolay Nenchev | Agrarianism | |
| Bulgarian new democracy | Borislav Velikov | Liberalism | ||
| Bulgaria for Citizens Movement | Meglena Kuneva | Centrism | ||
| Union of Democratic Forces | Bozhidar Lukarski | Christian democracy, pro-Europeanism, conservatism | European People's Party | |
| People's Voice | Svetoslav Vitkov | Populism | ||
| Bulgarian Democratic Forum | Zhaklin Toleva | Nationalism | ||
| Volya | Veselin Mareshki | Populism, Russophilia, Liberal democracy | ||
| ABV – Movement 21 | Alternative for Bulgarian Revival | Konstantin Prodanov | Social democracy, Russophilia | |
| Movement 21 | Tatyana Doncheva | Social democracy | ||
| Movement "Yes, Bulgaria" | Yes, Bulgaria! | Hristo Ivanov | Anti-Corruption | |
| The Greens | Zaritsa Georgieva, Vladislav Panev | Green politics, Environmentalism | European Green Party | |
| DEOS | Viktor Lilov | Liberalism | ||
| Coalition of dissatisfied | Bulgarian Social Democracy – EuroLeft | Dimitar Mitev | Social democracy | |
| Christian Social Union | Christian democracy | |||
| Party of the Greens | Vladimir Nikolov | Green politics, Environmentalism | European Green Party | |
| WHO – Bulgarian Left and Green Party | Bulgarian Left | Hristofor Dochev, Margarita Mileva, Ivan Genov | Democratic socialism | Party of the European Left |
| WHO – Competence, Responsibility and Truth | ||||
| Green Party of Bulgaria | Green politics, Environmentalism | European Green Party | ||
| New Republic | Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria | Radan Kanev | National liberalism, pro-Europeanism | European People's Party |
| Union for Plovdiv | ||||
| Bulgarian democratic community | Gospodin Tonev | |||
| Bulgarian democratic center | Krasimira Kovachka, Stefan Kenov | Conservatism | ||
| Movement for Radical Change "Bulgarian Spring" | Velizar Enchev | Left-wing nationalism | ||
| Bulgarian National Unification | Georgi Georgiev | Bulgarian nationalism | ||
| Revival | Kostadin Kostadinov | Bulgarian nationalism | ||
| National Republican Party | Mladen Mladenov | |||
| Movement for an Equal Public Model | Iliya Iliev | Rights and interests of Gypsies | ||
| Movement Forward Bulgaria | Zornitsa Todorova | |||
| Association DOST | Democrats for Responsibility, Solidarity and Tolerance (DOST) | Lyutvi Mestan | Turkish minority rights and interests, Good relations with Turkey | |
| People's Party "Freedom and Dignity" | Orhan Ismailov | Liberalism | ||
| National Movement for Rights and Freedoms | Guner Tahir | Turkish minority rights and interests | ||
Percentages do not account for undecided voters. 'Date' column signifies the last date of the survey in question, not the date of publication.
| Source | Date | Sample size | Margin of error | GERB | BSP | DPS | OP | RB | Volya | Yes! | ABV | Others / None | Lead | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 election | 5 October 2014 | 32.7% | 15.4% | 14.8% | 11.8% | 8.9% | – | – | 4.2% | 12.2% | ||||
| Trend | 17 January 2017 | 1,002 | ± 3.1% | 32.2% | 29.3% | 7.8% | 10.4% | 3.7% | 5.9% | 0.7% | 1.0% | 9.0% | 2.9% | |
| Alpha Research | 22 January 2017 | 1,024 | ± 3.0% | 32.6% | 28.8% | 7.8% | 10.7% | 3.8% | 4.4% | 2.3% | 1.4% | 8.2% | 3.8% | |
| Estat | 22 January 2017 | 1,000 | ± 3.1% | 36.1% | 27.5% | 6.0% | 7.0% | 2.4% | 8.4% | 0.9% | 1.9% | 9.8% | 8.6% | |
| Gallup | 30 January 2017 | 816 | ± 3.5% | 27.6% | 28.7% | 8.2% | 11.9% | 4.3% | 7.7% | 2.0% | 1.9% | 7.7% | 1.1% | |
| CAM | 7 February 2017 | 1,012 | ± 3.1% | 29.2% | 28.1% | 9.6% | 7.5% | 3.7% | 5.2% | 1.5% | 0.9% | 14.3% | 1.1% | |
| Trend | 9 February 2017 | 1,002 | ± 3.1% | 29.7% | 28.7% | 9.0% | 9.9% | 3.4% | 6.5% | 2.3% | 2.0% | 8.5% | 1.0% | |
| Sova Haris | 20 February 2017 | 1,003 | ± 3.0% | 31.3% | 31.6% | 6.4% | 10.3% | 6.3% | 7.2% | 0.5% | 3.0% | 3.4% | 0.3% | |
| Alpha Research | 23 February 2017 | 1,024 | ± 3.0% | 31.5% | 29.6% | 6.8% | 10.8% | 3.9% | 5.7% | 2.6% | 2.9% | 6.2% | 1.9% | |
| AFIS | 27 February 2017 | 1,200 | ± 3.0% | 28.2% | 30.5% | 6.7% | 8.5% | 4.5% | 5.1% | 1.3% | 3.3% | 12.0% | 2.3% | |
| Estat | 28 February 2017 | 1,000 | ± 3.1% | 29.5% | 30.2% | 6.4% | 8.6% | 3.9% | 11.8% | 2.3% | 1.5% | 5.8% | 0.7% | |
| Gallup | 5 March 2017 | 1,003 | ± 3.1% | 28.3% | 30.2% | 8.2% | 11.9% | 4.3% | 7.4% | 2.3% | 2.6% | 4.8% | 1.9% | |
| Institute of Modern Politics | 6 March 2017 | 827 | ± 3.1% | 29.1% | 29.0% | 7.3% | 9.5% | 3.5% | 5.8% | 1.7% | 4.1% | 10.0% | 0.1% | |
| Gallup | 15 March 2017 | 1,012 | ± 3.0% | 29.9% | 30.3% | 8.1% | 11.5% | 4.4% | 6.5% | 2.3% | 2.4% | 3.6% | 0.4% | |
| Estat | 15 March 2017 | 1,000 | ± 3.1% | 29.7% | 27.2% | 8.3% | 8.6% | 6.1% | 10.5% | 1.3% | 2.6% | 5.7% | 2.5% | |
| AFIS | 16 March 2017 | 1,010 | ± 3.0% | 31.2% | 31.5% | 8.5% | 9.9% | 4.4% | 5.3% | 1.1% | 4.1% | 4.1% | 0.3% | |
| Trend | 16 March 2017 | 1,004 | ± 3.1% | 29.8% | 27.9% | 8.7% | 10.2% | 3.8% | 7.3% | 2.1% | 2.6% | 7.6% | 1.9% | |
| CAM | 16 March 2017 | 1,012 | ± 3.1% | 29.6% | 29.0% | 10.8% | 10.0% | 3.5% | 6.2% | 1.9% | 1.5% | 7.5% | 0.6% | |
| Mediana | 20 March 2017 | 1,010 | ± 3.0% | 26.6% | 27.7% | 11.1% | 10.2% | 5.1% | 9.6% | 1.1% | 4.0% | 4.6% | 1.1% | |
| Institute of Modern Politics | 20 March 2017 | 805 | ± 3.1% | 28.5% | 29.0% | 9.1% | 10.1% | 4.0% | 9.6% | 2.0% | 4.5% | 3.2% | 0.5% | |
| Gallup | 21 March 2017 | 1,012 | ± 3.0% | 27.1% | 26.5% | 9.7% | 12.3% | 3.8% | 8.2% | 2.4% | 2.6% | 7.4% | 0.6% | |
| Alpha Research | 22 March 2017 | 1,033 | ± 3.0% | 31.7% | 29.1% | 8.4% | 8.9% | 4.0% | 6.8% | 2.5% | 2.9% | 5.7% | 2.6% | |
| Exacta | 22 March 2017 | 1,000 | ± 3.0% | 31.2% | 28.1% | 7.6% | 10.5% | 4.0% | 6.5% | 1.5% | 2.6% | 8.0% | 3.1% |
Combined result of the Patriotic Front and Attack.
Five parties crossed the 4% threshold required to gain seats. GERB maintained their position as the largest party.
Gallup exit polling suggested the following demographic breakdown.
| Voter demographics[15] | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social group | % GERB | % BSP | % OP | % DPS | % Volya | % RB | % Yes! | % DOST | % Others | % Lead |
| Exit poll result | 33 | 28 | 10 | 9 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 7 | 5 |
| Final result | 32.7 | 27.2 | 9.1 | 9.0 | 4.2 | 3.1 | 2.9 | 2.8 | 8 | 5.5 |
| Gender | ||||||||||
| Men | 31 | 25 | 10 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 6 |
| Women | 33 | 30 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 3 |
| Age | ||||||||||
| 18–30 | 32 | 14 | 7 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 13 | 18 |
| 30-60 | 34 | 23 | 10 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 11 |
| 60+ | 26 | 44 | 9 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 18 |
| Highest Level of Education | ||||||||||
| Lower education | 21 | 28 | 6 | 26 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 9 | 6 | 2 |
| Secondary education | 34 | 26 | 10 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 8 |
| Higher education | 32 | 28 | 8 | 3 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 11 | 4 |
| Ethnic Group | ||||||||||
| Bulgarian | 34 | 30 | 11 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 9 | 4 |
| Turkish | 14 | 8 | 0 | 53 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 3 | 34 |
| Roma | 28 | 21 | 2 | 23 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 9 | 9 | 5 |
| Location | ||||||||||
| Towns and villages | 28 | 26 | 8 | 21 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 10 | 10 | 2 |
| Smaller cities | 29 | 32 | 11 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 3 |
| Larger cities | 35 | 27 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 11 | 8 |
| Sofia | 33 | 23 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 12 | 0 | 13 | 10 |
| How they vote in second round of 2016 presidential election | ||||||||||
| Rumen Radev - 53,4% | 9 | 48 | 11 | 10 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 37 |
| Tsetska Tsacheva - 30,5% | 75 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 71 |
| No one/didn't vote - 16,1% | 25 | 5 | 13 | 11 | 8 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 16 | 12 |
Boyko Borisov appeared set to resume his tenure as Prime Minister, possibly with a coalition with the United Patriots,[16] and ultimately formed the Third Borisov Government with the United Patriots.