Rocker Turned-President Runner Vows to Keep Battle for Bulgaria

Svetoslav Vitkov, the vocalist of Bulgarian rock band Hipodil, and a presidential runner at the October 23 elections says he is going to continue forward with his political career.

In the aftermath of the first round of the elections, Vitkov announced his is planning and discussing with supporters what the next step would be.

"We are thinking of getting better organized, create something like a party, even though to me party is a dirty word," he says.

The candidate thanked everyone who cast a ballot for him and firmly rejected this has been a penalty vote. According to him, the real support he received was around the 4% mark with about 800 votes coming from Sofia's Studentski Grad district (the so-called College Town, where the dormitories of the capital's colleges are located).

Vitkov informed his campaign has received only BGN 219 in donations, and everything else he paid for from his own pocket. He also insists he should be taken seriously, despite his artistic background and colorful and entertaining campaign.

Exit polls gave Vitkov 1.7% of the vote while with 79% of the ballots counted, he stands at 1.3% now. He, however, has results very close to those of seasoned Bulgarian politicians such as Rumen Hristov from the right-wing Blue Coalition, Krasimir Karakachanov, from the nationalist VMRO, and Atanas Semov from the conservative Order, Law and Justice, RZS, party, among others.