Bulgarian voters expected to punish government

Pre-election surveys suggested Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev's Socialist Party and its allies would suffer in Sunday's vote, while the center-right opposition led by Sofia Mayor Boiko Borisov was expected to do well.

It was unclear, however, if Borisov's Citizens for the European Development of Bulgaria, or GERB Party, would have enough support to win an outright majority.

"I vote for an European Bulgaria, which has to prove that it is not the poorest and most corrupt country in Europe," Borisov said Sunday after casting his ballot.

By midday, some 29 percent of Bulgaria's 6.8 million eligible voters had cast their ballots, the central election commission said.

Voters were largely concerned with candidates' economic pledges for Bulgaria, the poorest member of the 27-nation European Union with the lowest average salary of euro300 ($420) a month. Opinion polls indicate more than a third of Bulgarians fear losing their jobs in the near future.

At least 700,000 mostly young and well-educated Bulgarians have left their country over the last two decades for better job opportunities and living standards.

"I cast a vote aimed at a change in this country, because I want to stay here and work here, and not abroad," said Petar Antonov, a 22-year-old economics student.

Though Stanishev's government was credited with securing EU membership in 2007, it has widely been blamed for failing to crack down on corruption and improve the quality of life for Bulgaria's 7.6 million people.

"I decided not to vote, because I didn't see changes happening after all the elections in the last years," said Nadya Ilieva, a 57-year-old saleswoman. "All parties keep promising heaven on earth, but forget everything they have said the very next day."

The EU froze millions in aid last year amid allegations of fraud tolerated by the Socialist-led coalition, which has itself been plagued by scandals. The ministries for corruption, agriculture and the environment also have been accused in corruption schemes, but only a few low-profile cases have been taken to court.

Many Bulgarians have come to see the Socialist Party and its junior coalition partner -- the mainly Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms -- as being part of the problem.

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