24/06/2013 Session
Strasbourg, 24.06.2013 – According to PACE, the 12 May 2013 early parliamentary elections in Bulgaria “were held in a pluralist context, fundamental freedoms were upheld and the administration of the elections was satisfactory”. Nevertheless, the Assembly was concerned at “the public’s lack of trust in the electoral process” and the “disaffection of an excessively high number of Bulgarians vis-à-vis their public institutions”, which resulted in a voter turnout of 51.33 per cent, the lowest in the history of post-Communist Bulgaria.
The report drawn up by Andreas Gross (Switzerland, SOC), head of the election observation mission, which was today approved by the Assembly, states that the campaign was marred by a number of incidents and that the process was affected by numerous allegations of electoral corruption, in particular vote-buying and controlled voting.
To restore citizens’ trust in the democratic process, PACE has called on the Bulgarian authorities to improve the electoral legal framework in the light of the problems identified during the elections, taking into consideration the recommendations made by the Venice Commission in 2011, and to carry out investigations into all allegations of electoral corruption, in order to bring those responsible to account.