by Tony Iozzo
Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe
SOFIA, Bulgaria – Approximately 4,000 Bulgarian protesters marched in the country’s capital on Sunday, demanding that the current ruling party of the government step down to give rise to premature elections.
The protesters called for an end to the “rein of the oligarchy,” on a day exactly twenty-four years after the fall of the Communist Party in Bulgaria. Demonstrators gathered outside of government buildings in central Sophia, protesting that Bulgaria was still not a stable, prosperous country.
The protesters congregated at major intersections in the city, and were focusing their chants on pressuring incumbent Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski to resign. Many protesters toted images of Oresharski depicted as a zombie. A few protesters went so far as to burn their pictures. The Prime Minister recently took office in May but has already faced pervasive pressure to resign.
The previous administration was brought down by similar popular protests, but the new Socialist-led administration is already facing the same pressure to resign, as citizens are alleging corrupt ties with business groups.
Protesters are charging that the current government is “connected to the oligarchy” just like the previous administration. Sunday’s protest was the latest in a five-month-old anti-government movement that accuses its leaders of having ties with shady businessmen.
Sunday’s demonstrators carried banners stating, “Down with the mafia”, and “We stay, you emigrate.” Many signs referenced the twenty-four year anniversary of the fall of Communist dictator Todor Zhivkov, as many citizens do not believe the country has achieved true democracy. “24 years of sham democracy is enough.”
Bulgarian students had also protested the previous day on Saturday, calling for changes to the country’s education system, which they said should develop “independent people with a critical mind, instead of conformists.” “We are protesting against poverty and unemployment”, the students stated in a written declaration. “We are protesting before we become beggars with a higher education.”
Bulgaria is one of the poorest countries in the European Union, and has been politically unstable this year with protests against poverty and corruption in February prompting the previous government to resign. The average monthly wage in Bulgaria is the lowest in the EU at 400 euros and the average pension just 130 euros.
A concert has already been organized for Sunday, also in Sofia, set to headline protest songs from the first anti-communist demonstrations in 1989-1990.
For more information, please see:
BBC News – Bulgaria Protests: Clashes Outside Parliament – 12 November 2013
Novinite – Students Reignite Popular Anti-Corruption Protests in Bulgaria – 12 November 2013
The Republic – Protesters Block Bulgarian Parliament, Hoping to Oust Demanding Early Elections – 12 November 2013
Al Jazeera – Bulgarians Protest Against Government Policy – 10 November 2013
