BULGARIA` S former king, Simeon II, was last night leading his political party to victory in a general election that marked the first time an eastern European country had returned a monarch to power.
With most votes counted, the Simeon II National Movement had won 43 per cent of the vote, routing mainstream parties after running a campaign for national salvation and an end to corruption. ` After today, Bulgaria is different,` announced the former king who has appealed to a nation tired of politics-as-usual.
Simeon Borisav Saxe-Coburggotski, his full name, did not stand for election himself, and is undecided about whether to remain as party leader or accept the post of prime minister in a new government. ` Together we are embarking on a path of economic and moral renovation,` he told cheering supporters in the capital, Sofia. ` It will not be an easy one, there will be many obstacles, but we will not give up.`
He won on a single campaign promise - to fix Bulgaria` s problems in 800 days. To do it he has spurned conventional politicians and chosen a colourful collection of candidates - pop stars, bankers, journalists, businessmen and a former model.
The protest vote is seen as a reflection of the disenchantment of the electorate with the two main parties - the outgoing centre-right Union of Democratic Forces and the former communist Socialist Party. These two parties have spent the past decade alternating in and out of power, each one unable to lift Bulgaria out of Europe` s economic basement. Both parties have been blamed for mismanagement and corruption.
Meanwhile, Bulgaria has grown poorer: one fifth of the work force is now unemployed and the average wage is Ј60 per month. Simeon, 64, last knew power when he became a boy king, aged just six, when his father, Boris III, died in suspicious circumstances in 1943.
The country was a Nazi puppet during the war, and afterwards the Soviet Union engineered a referendum that voted for the abolishment of the monarchy, forcing the royal family to flee abroad when Simeon was nine. For five decades Simeon was exiled, becoming a business consultant in Spain. He says he launched himself into politics to save his nation.
His plans are vague, limited to general promises to raise living standards and crack down on the corruption which has eaten away at the support of conventional parties.
` They voted for him because they want a miracle,` said a Bulgarian journalist, Elena Yoncheva. ` The people in the towns and villages are very poor. They are desperate. The king said he is going to make their life better.`
This will not be easy. Bulgaria is at the back of the queue for European Union membership and has had tough public spending limits imposed in return for loans from the IMF.
The outgoing UDF prime minister, Ivan Kostov, acknowledged yesterday that his party had lost the faith of the voters: ` We have taken a lot of unpopular decisions and also made mistakes,` he said. ` We wanted the voters to pay a higher price than they were prepared to pay.`
Mr Kostov dismissed Simeon` s campaign as ` wild populism` but Simeon` s supporters insisted last night that the former king might offer the UDF places in a possible coalition government.
This may not be needed, however, with the former king` s party almost certain to form a majority with the support of a minority ethnic Turkish party.
Another question voters will be waiting to hear is whether Simeon wants his throne back. He has so far said the question can be addressed later.
However, three quarters of the electorate say that they are against the reinstatement of the monarchy.