District official of Bulgaria’s minority party kills himself in Sofia

SOFIA

A cleaner poses on a board with election posters. Bulgaria sunk deeper into political uncertainty after final results. AFP photo

Kancho Bokov, 65, Sofia’s district chairman and MP candidate of Bulgaria’s minority party Movement for Rights and Freedoms (HÖH), committed suicide at his home as Bulgaria sinks deeper into uncertainty on a vote stalemate.

The incident took place at Bokov’s home in the Razsadnika residential quarter in Sofia May 14, using his own legally possessed weapon, according to Bulgarian National Radio (BNR). BNR said the investigation into the incident was underway.

Bokov was chairperson of the HÖH structure in the capital city. He was candidate for membership of the 42nd National Assembly, ranked 12th on HÖH’s elections ticket in the 26th constituency in Sofia.
The party has not come out with an official comment on the incident yet.

Ahmet Doğan, former leader of HÖH, was subjected to an armed assault attack Jan. 19 while on stage addressing delegates of his party.

Lütfi Mestan’s HÖH, which mostly depends on Turkish-origin Bulgarian citizens’ votes, won enough votes to enter the 240-seat Parliament in May 12 polls.

Bulgaria sinks deeper political stalemate

Meanwhile, Bulgaria sunk deeper into political uncertainty after final election results published yesterday showed that the Socialist party and potential partner HÖH have failed to secure enough seats to form a government.

Both parties are now looking to the fiercely nationalist and unpredictable Ataka party for backing, raising the specter of an unstable and short-lived government.

The final results of the elections showed the outgoing GERB conservatives garnering 30.5 percent of the vote, followed by the Socialist BSP with 26.61 percent. The HÖH party took 11.29 percent and the ultranationalist Ataka had 7.30 percent.

The electoral commission did not release the final seat count of the vote. However, Mihail Konstantinov, a board member of the firm that counted the votes, said GERB had obtained 97 seats and BSP 84. HÖH meanwhile took 36 and Ataka 23.

HÖH announced on May 14 that they would not work with nationalist Ataka. “There can’t be a coalition between HÖH and Ataka in any form,” Mestan said. “This would be an absolute distortion of policy, and I will not participate in this process.”

Compiled from AFP and AA stories by the Daily News staff.