Exit poll suggests center-left coalition of former president Rumen Radev will win Bulgaria election

SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) - An exit poll in Bulgaria suggested Sunday that the center-left Progressive Bulgaria coalition led by ex-president Rumen Radev will be the winner of the country's parliamentary election.

The poll conducted by Trend research group showed Radev's coalition earning 39.2% support, edging out the center-right GERB party of its veteran leader, Boyko Borissov, which is expected to capture 15.1%. Despite the huge gap between the two groups, the predicted percentage could not be enough for Radev to form a one-party government, and he will face the uphill task of looking for partners to govern.

The exit poll also predicted that voter turnout stood at 43.4%, and six parties could pass the 4% threshold to enter a fragmented parliament.

The election on Sunday was Bulgaria's eighth five years - a longtime political impasse that has gripped this Balkan country.

The snap vote follows the resignation of a conservative-led government amid nationwide protests last December that drew hundreds of thousands, mainly young people, to the streets. The protesters called for an independent judiciary to tackle widespread corruption.

If Radev's victory is confirmed in an official tally, it will potentially bring to power a left-leaning, pro-Russian leader just days after Hungarian voters rejected the authoritarian policies and global far-right movement of Viktor Orbán, who cultivated close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Radev resigned from the mostly ceremonial presidency in January, a few months before the end of his second term, to launch a bid to lead the government as prime minister.

The 62-year-old former fighter pilot and air force commander has promised to give the nation a fresh start. His supporters are split on those hoping he will put an end to the country's oligarchic corruption and those lining up behind his Eurosceptic and pro-Russian views.

Radev has cast himself as an opponent of the country's entrenched mafia and its ties to high-ranking politicians. At campaign rallies he vowed to "remove the corrupt, oligarchic model of governance from political power."