After seeing Bulgaria out of the European basketball championship qualifying, coach Konstantin Papazov said he is setting out on a quest to unite the cantankerous right-wing.

Konstantin Papazov, better known as Titi, announced on Monday he would run for mayor of capital Sofia in October's local elections as an independent candidate. He was nominated by the Democratic Party and became the first challenger to polls top scorer, incumbent Boyko Borisov.

"I will fight for the votes of the right-wing supporters in Sofia. I believe that I will win," Papazov told Darik radio.

Papazov expressed his conviction that both Ivan Kostov, leader of the die-hard rightists from Democrats for Strong Bulgaria, and Plamen Yurukov, leader of the biggest right-wing formation Union of Democratic Forces, will support his nomination.

Papazov described Ivan Kostov, prime minister of the reformist right-wing government from 1997 to 2001, as "one of the strongest figures in the country's political life".

"I don't care about the money, which are at the root of all evil. This is a quality that makes me strong," he added.

The ambitious statement came just a day after the popular incumbent mayor of Sofia Boyko Borisov turned his back on the right-wingers and left no room for cooperation in the upcoming local vote.

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