SOFIA: No clear winner emerged from Bulgaria's parliamentary election on Sunday, exit polls showed, with the centre-right GERB party of former premier Boyko Borissov narrowly ahead of the new anti-elite party There Is Such a People (ITN).

Surveys by Gallup International and Alpha Research showed GERB at 22.1% to 23.5%, and ITN, led by popular TV host and singer Slavi Trifonov, on 21.5% to 22.3% in the election, Bulgaria's second in three months.

The close results underscore deep divisions over the legacy of Borissov's decade-long rule, amid growing anger at widespread corruption in Bulgaria, the European Union's poorest member.

Even if official results confirm GERB as the largest party its chances of forging a ruling coalition are slim, political observers say. GERB came in first in the election in April, but was shunned by other parties.

ITN is better positioned, with the support of its likely partners, two small anti-graft groupings.