Bulgarian ex-bodyguard eyes government after vote

By Anna Mudeva and Justyna Pawlak

SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria's centre-right opposition GERB party said it would start coalition talks on Monday, after winning a national election that increased the prospect of reforms in the EU member to combat corruption and recession.

GERB won on a promise to uproot the deep-seated crime that prompted the European Union last year to cut aid, capitalizing on voter anger over the Socialist-led government's failure to stem graft and economic pain.

Party leader Boiko Borisov, 50, a burly Sofia mayor nicknamed Batman after the fictional superhero due to his zeal for action, said he would head the next government and reiterated his campaign promises to move fast on reforms.

"Those who have stolen should be very afraid ... The thieves will go to jail," Borisov, a former bodyguard, told reporters.

Observers say a GERB-led government is likely to start loan talks with the International Monetary Fund and slash government spending in an effort to heal an economy severely damaged by the global crisis.

Partial results based on 60.6 percent of the ballots counted, showed Borisov's GERB -- Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria -- won 41.5 percent of the proportional vote compared with 18.2 percent for the Socialists.

GERB also won 28 additional seats in the 240-member legislature in a vote for a total of 31 mandates distributed separately, the results showed. Exit polls showed GERB might get a total of up to 120 seats, one seat short of clear majority.

The ex-communist nation of 7.6 million, which joined the European Union in 2007 and is the bloc's poorest member, last year lost access to over half a billion euros (857 million pounds) in EU funds as punishment for graft.