Asen Vasilev, leader of We Continue the Change, said in a TV interview that the election shows the current government has lost all legitimacy. By his count, 900,000 of the 1.4 million voters say they do not back Iliana Yotova.

A large share of them do not support her because they do not trust prime minister Rumen Radev and think a check on him is needed, Vasilev said. He argued that an independent president should not owe the post to party deals, and called on everyone to vote by conscience for the candidate they think is best.

Vasilev reminded Radev of the protest a year ago, when 120,000 Bulgarian citizens were in the square. He said they, along with another 1.3 million people, put Bulgaria's fate in Radev's hands. Six months later, he said, they were all lied to.

Vasilev said he personally expects people to take to the streets themselves if the 2027 budget really has such figures and is completely heartless.