Presidential election in Bulgaria: Iliana Iotova is winning in the second round

In the decisive second round of the presidential election held in Bulgaria, incumbent head of state Iliana Iotova and vice-presidential candidate Kirill Vilchev are leading confidently.

According to the BNT television channel, citing data provided by the local sociological agency "Myara", preliminary counts indicate that the incumbent president is close to victory with 51.1 percent of the vote.

Key figures and candidate results of the second round

In the second round held on Sunday, the two politicians who received the most votes in the first stage competed against each other:

• Iliana Iotova (incumbent president): Recorded in first place, having garnered 51.1 percent of the voters' ballots;

• Andrey Gyurov (former acting prime minister): Her main rival, Andrey Gyurov, who served as acting prime minister of Bulgaria, has 44.6 percent of the votes;

• Voter turnout: According to the data provided by the sociological agency, the overall participation of citizens (turnout) in the voting process was 25.5 percent.

What powers does the president have in Bulgaria?

In the Bulgarian constitutional system, the status of the head of state and their influence on political processes are defined by a number of important functions:

• Election term: The president is elected by popular vote for a term of 5 years;

• Main powers: Although the country has a parliamentary form of government and the head of state mainly performs representative functions, they have the right to veto laws;

• Important political power: The president has the authority to appoint a temporary (technical) government in cases provided for by legislation and is the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the country's armed forces.