Bulgaria’s caretaker government has failed to perform its most important task - insure fair early parliamentary elections, the Socialist leader argued on Sunday afternoon.

“Interim Prime Minister Marin Raykov kept none of his promises – we have witnessed massive breaches, pressure, vote-buying throughout the day today,” Sergey Stanishev fumed at an emergency press conference towards the end of the election day on Sunday.

His statement came after Bulgarian caretaker Prime Minister Marin Raykov criticized political leaders for “breaking the pre-election silence” ahead of Sunday’s crucial general election in the country.

Raykov apparently referred to the strong statements made by opposition leaders following the shocking revelation that a total of 350 000 illegal ballots have been seized by prosecutors and security agents.

The questionable ballots were seized from the premises of Multiprint, the company commissioned by the government to print the official election ballots. Multiprint is owned by a municipal councilor from the center-right GERB party. The news prompted opposition leaders to accuse GERB of an attempted large-scale election fraud.

“These political reactions should not stand in the way of the Bulgarian citizens’ wish to exercise their right to vote,” Raykov declared after voting on Sunday.

The Socialist leader called Raykov’s reaction “scandalous”.

"We are talking here about valid fake ballots, which were printed illegally. Unfortunately, neither Marin Raykov, nor Boyko Borisov, denounced this conspiracy against democracy and against the fundamental rights of citizens.”

Stanishev said the scandal revealed that Raykov was appointed prime minister in the caretaker government after secretly striking a deal with Borisov.

“We will understand what that deal was after the elections,” he warned.

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