Sofia, Nov 14 (TIWN) Bulgarians went to the polls on Sunday to elect a President and a National Assembly.

No party is expected to win an outright majority in the November 14 parliamentary elections, the third such vote this year, opening the door to more difficult coalition talks in a deeply divided parliament.  Failure to form a government could slow Bulgaria’s plan to adopt the euro currency by 2024 and delay measures to soften the impact of high energy costs on consumers this winter. 

A member of both NATO and the European Union, Bulgaria has been plagued by rampant corruption since overthrowing communism more than three decades ago. It is the EU's poorest member and routinely comes in at the bottom of the bloc for perceptions of corruption and media freedom.  Boyko Borisov, who was at the helm for more than a decade, stepped down as prime minister in April after widespread anti-corruption protests against him and his center-right GERB party, the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria.