A runoff will determine the new leader of the largest opposition Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) after none of the candidates managed to garner more than half of the votes in the first round.

The runoff will pit against each other incumbent Socialist leader Mihail Mikov and Korneliya Ninova, deputy chairperson of BSP’s parliamentary group, with the two having garnered the largest number of votes in the first round of voting which began an hour before midnight on Saturday.

According to preliminary estimates, 329 of the delegeates participating in the 49^th congress of the party voted in favour of Mikov, while 280 cast their ballot in favour of Ninova 280.

The second round is expected to take place during the lunch break on Sunday.

The 49^th congress of the party began on Saturday and is continuing on Sunday at the National Palace of Culture (NDK) in Sofia.

The congress is to elect chairperson, members of the national council and the party’s control commission.

Initially, there were 28 candidates for the leadership position, but 23 of them withdrew before the start of the voting.

After the run-off, the delegates will adopt the political declaration “125 years BSP”.

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