“The best way we can get Sofia back is by losing it. We now need to save it from the saviours – I know these people, they are incapable of working, they are lazy,” said GERB leader Boyko Borissov in his first comment after the first round of the local election in Bulgaria on 29 October, when his party lost in Sofia after having governed the capital city for 18 years. The run-off will be between the candidates of We Continue the Change/Democratic Bulgaria (PP/DB) Vasil Terziev and the candidate of Bulgarian Socialist Party for Bulgaria Vanya Grigorova.

• Candidates of PP-DB and “BSP for Bulgaria” to compete for the mayoral seat in Sofia

In Boyko Borissov’s words, the election results in Sofia are expected, after “a three-year massive attack against GERB”. Regarding the upcoming run-off on Sunday, Boyko Borissov stated that it is now too late for PP/DB to look to GERB for support. He stated further that his party won in 7 regional cities in the first round, and in 95 municipalities and 17 regional cities will run in the second round of the election as a leading political force. Borissov described the low voter turnout as punishment for the entire political class.