Bulgaria elections head for tight finish Partial results from Bulgaria's parliamentary election show a narrow lead for the centre-right Gerb party over its socialist rivals. With nearly 70% of the ballots counted, Gerb has 31.4% of the vote, followed by the BSP with 27.4%. But ex-PM Boiko Borisov has failed to win the election outright and must now try to form a coalition government. That is expected to be very difficult. Gerb resigned in February amid protests over living standards and corruption. Voter turnout was barely 50% and the run-up to the election was marked by voter apathy and claims of fraud. The BBC's Nick Thorpe in Sofia says more political uncertainty in the EU's poorest country looks likely as the main parties struggle to re-establish their claim to power. Bulgaria faces a major economic and social crisis, our correspondent says, with unemployment officially close to 12% but - unofficially - over 18%. 'Mafia' chants International observers are expected to give their verdict shortly on whether the election was conducted fairly. More than 250 of them monitored Sunday's election. Gerb has pledged to keep debts under control, while the socialists say they will spend more and create jobs. As polls closed, crowds gathered outside the election centre at the Palace of Culture in Sofia to protest against any new attempt by Gerb to form a new government. BSP leader Sergei Stanishev, left, and former PM Boiko Borisov have fought for every vote Protesters chanting "Mafia" were involved in brief scuffles with police, Bulgarian news agencies said. The results so far suggest Gerb will fall well short of a majority in the 240-seat parliament. In order to form a new government, it will need the support of parties that have already declared their opposition to another Borisov-led administration. Other parties expected to pass the 4% threshold needed to enter parliament are the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) - which represents Bulgaria's ethnic Turkish minority - and the ultra-nationalist Ataka. The centrist Bulgaria of the Citizens, led by former European Commissioner Meglena Kuneva, was thought to be close to the necessary threshold. Ballot paper 'scandal' President Rosen Plevneliev had earlier appealed to Bulgaria's 6.9 million voters to cast their votes to ensure a fair result. "Whatever scenarios exist, they don't stand a chance against millions of Bulgarians who can come out to vote," he said. A caretaker government has led Bulgaria since mass protests prompted Mr Borisov's resignation in February. Police sealed off the printing shop at Kostinbrod near Sofia following the overnight raid Before Sunday's vote, the centre-right leader had said he would be happy to go into opposition, and BSP leader Sergei Stanishev said if his party won, he would not be prime minister. Gerb has pledged to keep debts under control, while the socialists say they will spend more and create jobs. The election campaign had already been marred by revelations of illegal wiretapping of politicians, with prosecutors pointing the finger at former Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov. Then, on Saturday, prosecutors said a printing house near the capital Sofia had been raided with the seizure of 350,000 ballot papers that were printed over the legally fixed number. Mr Stanishev described the discovery as a "scandal". He said it showed there had been "preparation for total falsification of the elections". sphygmometer
Aleksandar Vucic: Kosovo Serbs 'should accept deal' One of Serbia's most senior officials has visited northern Kosovo to try to persuade ethnic Serbs there to accept an EU-brokered agreement. Deputy PM Aleksandar Vucic admitted that the amount of autonomy given to them under the accord was not ideal. Kosovo proclaimed its independence from Serbia in 2008 but Kosovan Serbs have refused to recognise the government. The deal is intended to normalise relations between the governments in Belgrade and Pristina. Mr Vucic held talks in Mitrovica with officials of the four municipalities in northern Kosovo. "I'm not saying that the agreement is good, but at this stage we could not get anything better," he said at the meeting, quoted by AFP news agency. "I could list many reasons to oppose the agreement but there is an important point in its favour. It is the only way for Serbia to survive, to exist and remain united in the search for a path to a better future." The BBC's Guy De Launey in Kosovo says local people are unhappy with the deal and unconvinced by Mr Vucic. The landmark deal was struck last month in Brussels. It does not mean Serbia recognises Kosovo as an independent state. However, it concedes that Pristina has legal authority over the whole territory. The agreement gives Kosovo's Serbs their own police and justice representatives within the Kosovan system. It also makes it clear that some details have yet to be finalised. Many countries recognise Kosovo as independent but Serbia is among those - including Russia and China - who do not. Five of the 27 EU countries do not recognise Kosovo: Spain, Greece, Romania, Slovakia and Cyprus. Some 40,000 ethnic Serbs live in northern Kosovo. obolary
David Cameron rounds on Tories 'throwing in towel' on EU UK Prime Minister David Cameron has rounded on senior Conservatives wanting to leave the European Union, accusing them of "throwing in the towel" before negotiations have even started. He called the position held by former cabinet ministers Lord Lawson and Michael Portillo "very, very strange". The PM was speaking in the US where he is expected to discuss EU trade as well as Syria with President Obama. Tory MPs look set to force a Commons vote on an EU referendum on Wednesday. They have tabled an amendment to the motion welcoming the Queen's Speech, in which they express "regret" about the absence of legislation paving the way for a referendum on the UK's membership of the EU. And, as the number of Conservatives set to back the amendment grows, on Sunday Education Secretary Michael Gove and Defence Secretary Phillip Hammond both said they would vote to leave the EU if there were a referendum now. Asked about their comments, Mr Cameron said: "Well there isn't going to be a referendum tomorrow so it's a hypothetical question." BBC deputy political editor James Landale, in Washington, said the contrast could not be starker. "At home, cabinet ministers like Michael Gove and Philip Hammond are talking about leaving the European Union," he said. "But in the United States, David Cameron is talking about how much the EU matters." He said the prime minister would be making the case for a new EU-US trade deal, creating a free trade area which he says could add £10bn a year to the British economy. Mr Cameron calls it a "once-in-a-generation prize" but the talks could take years and are based on the UK's presumed membership of the EU. The prime minister has promised to hold an in/out referendum by 2017 - if the Conservatives win the next election - but has said he would campaign to stay within the EU if he was able to secure a new relationship. Referendum calls A group of Conservative backbenchers, led by John Baron, has been campaigning for him to firm up this commitment by legislating in the current Parliament for a referendum. The Commons amendment is highly unlikely to be passed, because Labour, the Lib Dems and many Conservatives will vote against it or abstain, but Mr Baron has said it will keep the issue in the spotlight. Michael Gove: "I'm not happy with our position in the European Union" Gavin Barwell, Conservative MP for Croydon Central and parliamentary private secretary to Mr Gove, told the BBC he "completely trusted the PM" but the electorate did not trust politicians in general. "What we need to do is to convince a sceptical electorate that we actually mean it," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme. "A very effective way of doing that would be to bring forward legislation, so we can go back to our constituents and say, look if you vote Conservative at the next election here is a guarantee that we will get a referendum." Meanwhile, the Tory Mayor of London Boris Johnson is supporting the call for a government bill. In a Mr Johnson said David Cameron must make clear Britain is "ready to walk away" unless its relationship with the EU is reformed. Party control Former Tory foreign secretary Sir Malcolm Rifkind accused those pushing the amendment of being "foolish", saying they would "embarrass the prime minister". He told BBC Radio 4's Today that if they were going to split the party it should be on a point of principle, not just over differing tactics ahead of the planned referendum. The furore within the Tories has been seized on by Labour as a sign Mr Cameron has lost control of his party. Labour leader Ed Miliband opposes the decision to announce a referendum four years early, but is not ruling out the possibility of one in the future. But a group of Labour MPs and peers, including the former Europe minister Keith Vaz, are to call for their party to support a referendum. Lib Dem leader - and Deputy Prime Minister - Nick Clegg has criticised his larger Conservative coalition partners for their "endless navel-gazing over Europe", which he said was in danger of distracting the government from its priorities. Former Labour science minister Lord Sainsbury told BBC Breakfast the current exit debate was "extraordinary". "You can normally rely on the Conservatives to be pretty sensible about commercial issues, and issues of power and influence. The commercial case for staying in Europe is overwhelming," he said. "A lot of our inward investment is from companies coming to this country in order to export into Europe. If we are not part of Europe, they are not going to be interested." sesquiduplicate
Gun control backers turn up heat on selected senators First came the letter-writing campaigns, then the protests at town hall meetings and now the television ads. The last several weeks in New Hampshire have had the feel of a heated electoral season — but the target of this siege, first-term dealing a blow to the gun control movement animated by the December mass. Supporters of tougher gun laws vowed not to let the issue fade, as it has in the past. Since the April 17 vote, however, the issue has shown unforeseen staying power. Background check supporters are counting on a two-pronged strategy: an aggressive campaign by advocacy groups to unnerve senators who might change their votes and delicate legislative maneuvering to create political cover for them. "The outside game is about convincing those who voted no that they've made the wrong choice. And that is happening. There are definitely second thoughts out there," said Jim Kessler, a gun policy expert at the centrist Democratic think tank Third Way. Senators who opposed the agreement, he said, "expected the politics to work for them after the vote and so far it hasn't." The squeeze on Ayotte has roused conservatives to her defense. American Future Fund, a conservative group that does not typically weigh in on gun matters, responded Friday with television ads supporting Ayotte. The weeklong buy cost about $200,000, according to a media tracking sourc, which vigorously opposed the background check measure, has rallied around Ayotte as well, first in radio and television ads and then with a $25,000 television ad buy. The group is also starting a nationwide direct mail campaign aimed at members, with additional mailers sent to non-NRA households in select states, such as New Hampshire and Arizona. Andrew Arulanandam, an NRA spokesman, dismissed the idea that the background check vote had triggered a backlash as "a manufactured issue by Bloomberg." The relentless pressure by gun control groups could also harden opposition. In a fundraising email last week, Ayotte dug in and asked supporters for help. "I'm under attack for standing up for the U.S. Constitution by voting against flawed legislation that would have compromised our 2nd Amendment rights while doing nothing to prevent horrific tragedies such as Newtown," she wrote. "I won't back down." Flake, also facing heat from advocacy groups, vehemently insisted last week that he remained opposed to the original background check measure. "They could change it," he said. "They could do a lot of things. But it wouldn't be the Toomey-Manchin proposal. I voted against that for a reason, and I'm not reconsidering my vote." Manchin has suggested he was not open to significant revisions. "It's a pretty common-sense bill. I don't know how you make it any more common sense except redefine some areas," he said. Supporters of the measure are optimistic that this back and forth is just political theater — a way for senators to lay the groundwork for changing their votes and avoiding the dreaded "flip-flopper" label. "Clearly, this bill is going to have to look differently in order for members to face their constituents and explain why they changed their mind," said Sen.(D-Conn.). "There are a lot of ways that we can modify this bill without significantly weakening it." spicate
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