For Bulgarian Voters, It Is Time for a National Election. Again.
BURGAS, Bulgaria — For the United States, Britain, India and other countries, 2024 is a high-stakes election year.
For Bulgaria, it will be the sixth general election in three years for a new Parliament.
Bulgarians keep casting ballots only to find that the politicians they choose cannot form a stable government. So back to the polls, they go.
It is part of a problem across former communist lands in Europe: deep disillusionment with politicians and the democratic process. That is especially true of Bulgaria, the poorest country in the European Union and one of its most corrupt.
Bulgaria’s two main political parties both support Bulgaria’s membership in NATO and the European Union and are hostile to Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. But they are divided on tackling corruption.
Voter turnout plummeted to 40 percent in the last general election, held less than a year ago, from 83 percent in the first post-Communist vote for Parliament in 1991. Only 27 percent of Bulgarians, according to a survey last year by Globsec, a research group, trust their government.
“We have a highly volatile electorate looking for a savior,” said Ruzha Smilova, a professor at Sofia University in the Bulgarian capital.
Voters could opt for a wouldbe strongman leader promising an iron hand and order.
“I worry that after so many elections people will be ready to say: ‘Great, we finally have a strong, stable leadership,’ ” said Vessela Tcherneva, an adviser to a short-lived Bulgarian coalition government.
The country faces one of communism’s most enduring legacies — the capture of state institutions by entrenched political and business interests.
“The post-communist transition is still not finished. It is not about communism as an ideology anymore but about whether institutions should be independent,” a former prime minister, Kiril Petkov, said.
Mr. Petkov became prime minister in 2021 for what was to be a four-year term at the head of a government under the slogan “zero tolerance for corruption.” He lasted seven months.
Upstart populist parties have come and gone over the years, diluting support for mainstream forces. The ultranationalist Revival, according to opinion polls, has gone from a fringe outfit to the country’s third most popular party.
Boyko Borissov, a three-time prime minister who presented himself as Bulgaria’s Batman taking on corruption and instability, struggled with corruption scandals himself. He eventually ceded power to Mr. Petkov after losing an election.
But with Mr. Petkov’s party trailing the polls, Mr. Borissov could well be back after voters again go to the polls this month.
Now facing his fifth election since he left office, Mr. Petkov said he was losing hope that this election would break the deadlock. “I’m exhausted,” he said.