(SOFIA) - Bulgarians largely ignored Sunday the EU newcomer's first European elections with barely 30 percent of eligible voters turning out after a campaign dogged by corruption scandals.

Exit polls on those who did vote suggested there was little to divide the ruling Socialist Party (BSP), its coalition partner the Turkish minority Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) party, and a new centre-right group, GERB.

Different polling institutes gave each of the three parties a margin of error lead in percentage points after polls closed at 7:00 pm (1600 GMT).

That suggested each could capture five of the 18 European Parliament seats up for grabs.

The third, smaller member of the Socialists' ruling coalition, the National Movement Simeon II of former king Simeon Saxe Coburg looked on course for one seat, according to exit polls. The ultra-nationalist Ataka -- the only party standing on an anti-EU platform -- looked set for three.

But the Turkish minority MRF party claimed election victory at a press conference late Sunday, with its leader Ahmed Dogan saying "This is the MRF's moment of glory."

"Everybody wants to know how come the MRF came out of these elections as the leading political power...But the MRF most fully realised the importance of these elections, conducted an extremely well-organised and responsible campaign and the results are obvious," Dogan said.

Casually dressed, the MRF leader toured the country during the month-long election campaign urging his supporters from the 10 percent Turkish minority population to show up at the stations Sunday.

But despite claiming victory, Dogan hinted he would not seek changes in the centre-left cabinet where he has only three ministers out of sixteen.

"The BSP remains the leading political party. The coalition remains stable," Dogan said.

Meanwhile Socialist Prime Minister Sergey Stanishev said his party's results "failed to meet the expectations."

He praised the Turkish minority's well-organised campaigning and recognised "there emerged a new powerful opposition party, GERB."

But he also insisted that the ruling coalition had given a "stable performance by scooping 60 percent of votes."

"The Bulgarian Socialist Party has got a major problem here," political analyst Andrey Raychev of the Gallup institute commented.

He told AFP the outcome of the vote was unexpected and a result of a massive corruption scandal earlier in May that implicated senior government officials and eroded support for the Socialists.

Bulgaria's economy and energy minister was forced to take a leave of absence and two junior ministers were sacked, after allegations that officials had diverted funds from state-owned companies and put pressure on prosecutors to drop their probe.

Rampant corruption and the failure of the judiciary to put mafia bosses and crooked top officials behind bars remain a major issue in Bulgaria less than six months after it joined the European Union on January 1.

Stanishev moved quickly to stave off the recent crisis -- which is being closely watched by Brussels -- in forcing out the officials. But the strategy failed to pay off.

Analysts commented that pressure would be back on the government if the MRF and GERB were indeed confirmed to have drawn larger support in the European polls.

Borisov even said he may call for early general elections if his new party pulls off a surprise victory in the polls.

Analysts say he is unlikely to follow through with the threat given the fact the ruling coalition holds 168 of the 240 seats in Bulgaria's parliament.

The fact that only 28.69 percent of Bulgaria's 6.7 million voters bothered to turn out for Sunday's poll was no surprise to many as the heavy rain pounding the country and voter apathy kept people at home.

The first official results are not expected until Monday.

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