Bulgaria’s prime minister stumbles badly at the polls

“YOU WON’T make it on your own…let’s unite,” said Boyko Borisov, Bulgaria’s prime minister, standing forlornly in the snow soon after the polls had closed on April 4th. Opinion pollsters had predicted that the man who has dominated Bulgarian politics for more than a decade would lose some of his once-stellar support, but they did not foresee that he would do nearly as badly as he actually did. Now Mr Borisov is busy suggesting the formation of a technocratic government, which he would presumably control, though from behind the scenes.Mr Borisov is clinging to power by his fingernails, and will remain dangling for weeks as the shocked leaders of the parties that have made it into parliament see if they can form a government. With 26% of the vote, his party will be the largest, but the vast majority of deputies from other parties have nothing in common—except that they loathe him.