The latest study of the Alpha Research polling agency has found that about 73 per cent of Bulgarians have decided which political formation to support in the parliamentary elections next month.

It also found that indecision over whether or not to vote was highest among the group which indicated it would back exiled king Simeon Saxe-Coburg's coalition on June 17.

In this new poll - conducted between May 4 and 14 - 65 per cent of the eligible voters said they would definitely vote, 23 per cent were hesitant, and 12 per cent said they definitely would not vote. The 73 per cent who say they know who they will back is a percentage which has remained almost unchanged since April - but pollsters say it is too high a potential turnout, far fewer people are actually likely to go the polls.

Another persisting trend in polls is the dominance of the coalition spawned by Saxe-Coburg - the National Movement Simeon II. It was supported by 33.9 per cent of respondents. Its main rivals, the United Democratic Forces (UtDF) and the Coalition For Bulgaria, received 16.5 and 12.2 per cent backing respectively. Although support for the king's coalition had dropped six per cent since the previous poll of April 22, it remained the frontrunner.

The percentage of people indicating support for the three main coalitions who also indicated that they would definitely vote was 80 per cent.

However, the percentage of people supporting the front three who were indecisive about whether to vote was largest among supporters of the National Movement Simeon II - 16 per cent. According to pollsters, in the event that the formation's candidate lists prove disappointing to the electorate, its lead would decline.

If the elections were to have been held in the first half of May, none of the other political formations would have gotten into the next Parliament. The Movement for Rights and Freedoms would have received 3.5 per cent of the votes, according to the polls, and the Gergiovden-VMRO coalition would have taken 2.1 per cent.

The poll was conducted nationwide, among 1,108 adults. The method used was direct standard interviewing (face-to-face), carried out in the respondents' homes. Among the questions asked were: "Who would you vote for, if the elections were now?" and "How firm is your intention to participate in the elections?"