Bulgaria's incumbent, nationalist face run-off presidential poll: final results

Bulgaria's incumbent Socialist President Georgi Parvanov and Ataka Volen Siderov, leader of an ultra-nationalist party, are heading to a run-off presidential poll next week, the final results showed on Tuesday.

Parvanov gained 64.05 percent of the vote, a record high in Bulgaria's history, in the first round of the presidential election held on Sunday, the Central Election Commission announced Tuesday after all the votes were counted.

Despite Parvanov's strong showing, a run-off vote must be held next Sunday between the top two contenders, due to a lower-than-required turnout of 42.1 percent recorded in the first round.

Siderov trailed far behind the front runner, with 21.49 percent of the vote, while Parvanov's another main rival, a right-wing hardliner Nedelcho Beronov, ranked the third with 9.75 percent.

Other four candidates, including Georgi Markov, a rightist, and Petar Beron, a nationalist, each won no more than 3 percent of the tally.

Source: Xinhua