* Socialists announce pensioner free holiday plan
* Critics pan idea as populist
* Government survives no-confidence vote as expected
(Updates with no-confidence vote, paragraphs 13-15)
By Anna Mudeva
SOFIA, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Bulgaria is to give free holidays to 5,000 pensioners but critics said Thursday's move by the Socialist-led government was a populist play for a key electorate ahead of parliamentary polls later this year.
The ruling Socialists were forced last year to sharply scale back a similar plan, which was branded by its junior coalition partners as populist and drew media and public scorn.
The three-party ruling coalition, worried about plummeting support ahead of parliamentary elections due between June and August, is pouring billions of dollars into the real economy to protect it from the global financial crisis and create jobs.
It also plans to raise pensions, public sector wages and aid to the poor in the European Union's poorest and most corrupt nation, which has been hit by a wave of protests over living standards and graft scandals.
"This measure looks like a pure PR campaign and lobbying in favour of the tourism sector," said Rumiana Bachvarova, a political analyst at Market Links agency.
"Taking care of the elderly does not mean taking them to the beach in groups. They should have offered some healthcare benefits instead," she added.
The government says the free holiday plan is part of a wider 2009-2011 programme aimed at "securing active social life for pensioners", and would also help a tourism sector that is expected to be hit by the economic crisis.
KEY ELECTORATE
No official figures have been released but details of the scheme provided by the government would give it a price tag of around 3 million levs ($1.95 million).
Pensioners are an important electorate, accounting for nearly a third Bulgaria's shrinking and ageing 7.6 million population.
The average monthly pension of about 80 euros and salary of about 300 euros remain the lowest in the EU despite an economic boom in the past few years.
The global crisis now threatens to hit incomes and erase some of the gains from the past decade. Trade union expect tens of thousands to lose their jobs.
Opinion polls show 70 percent want the government to quit over low living standards and rampant corruption.
As expected, the government on Thursday survived a no-confidence vote called by opposition parties which say its policies have failed.
Observers say the vote -- the seventh since the Socialists took office in 2005 -- aimed to raise the opposition's profile and further erode support for the ruling coalition, which has an overwhelming majority in the 240-seat chamber.
While social discontent could rise ahead of the elections protests have yet to attract large numbers and the government does not appear under threaten for now, they say. (Editing by Jon Boyle)