Movement for Rights and Freedoms leader Lyutvi Mestan. Photo by BGNES
Lyutvi Mestan, leader of the ethnic Turkish Movement for Rights and Freedoms party, cast his ballot in Bulgaria’s key general election on Sunday.
“Despite the notion that the Movement for Rights and Freedoms would benefit from a low voter turnout, I choose the interest of Bulgaria over the interest of the party,” Mestan told reporters upon voting.
Mestan called for a high voter turnout, saying he hoped that at least 50% of all eligible voters would cast ballots.
Bulgarians are voting in a tight snap election in which no party is expected to win a majority to form a government. Recent opinion polls indicate that GERB and the Bulgarian Socialist Party are nearly tied.
The Movement for Rights and Freedoms will be the third-largest party in Parliament, according to recent polls.