Bulgaria's center-right GERB extends lead ahead of October vote

SOFIA (Reuters) - Bulgaria's center-right GERB party has extended its lead over main political rivals, the Socialists, just weeks before a snap election, independent pollster Alpha Research said on Tuesday in the first opinion poll since May's European election. The Balkan country, rocked by two years of political instability, faces early polls on Oct. 5 after its fragile Socialist government resigned in July following a poor performance at the European Parliament election in May. GERB itself was in power until February 2013 when it fell following protests over living standards and high utility bills. Some 36.2 percent of people planning to vote will support GERB, up from a 30.4 percent in the European Parliament election in May, the poll conducted between Aug. 31 and Sept. 5, showed. GERB's main rival, the Socialist Party - whose year in office was overshadowed by anti-graft protests, floods and a banking crisis - scored 22.5 percent, up from 19 percent in May, the poll of 1,025 people showed. The pollster said five political parties are likely to form the next parliament, and its initial estimates show that GERB would take between 105 to 110 seats, while the right-wing Reformist Bloc would win 16 seats in the 240-member chamber, allowing for a GERB-led coalition government. "The negative attitudes towards the previous government remain strong, pushing the pendulum towards the center-right and increasing expectations for a stable government with a clear majority," Alpha Research said. Other parties set to enter the next parliament include the ethnic Turkish MRF party, which was a junior coalition partner in the Socialist government - with 12 percent support, and the populist Bulgaria Without Censorship party - with 4.4 percent. (Reporting by Tsvetelia Tsolova; Editing by Louise Ireland)