I took a friend of mine to the airport terminal in Sofia. She has been living with her family for over 30 years in Vienna. “I hope that things in this country will finally get better”, she said before her departure. She visited several institutions in Bulgaria for 10 days as she tried to resolve a personal problem. However, she could not complete it. She got really nervous and decided to join the street protests in Sofia in the last days of her stay in this country. I told her that I hoped that next time she comes back home, she would not repeat the words of Andre Maurois from “Byron”. The words read “I leave without regret and return dissatisfied”. My fiend departed to Austria and I sank into the hot summer day in Bulgaria and the hot evening protest against oligarchy which pulls the strings of the political life in this country behind the stage. The protests are against the ones who earned their millions due to the political support and who, to the help of gangsters, took part in the dubious privatization. These people failed to manage the properties they acquired in most of the cases. The protests are against the political elite which did its best to delay the normal transition to a democratic society. It is against the ones who made 1-1.5 million Bulgarians leave the country. “We want to live in Bulgaria and we want our children to stay here”, the protesting people shout in the streets. They blame all political parties which back the current government that they killed all hopes of the Bulgarians for a civilized transition to democracy and want changes in the political system, resignation of the current government and new elections in September. The angry society will not give up as it was cheated with so many empty promises over the years. The cabinet headed by Plamen Oresharski does not give any indications that it intends to take the demand of the remonstrants into account and continues to appointment people with low reputation on key positions. It has worsened the situation even more. The ones who back the government and make a counter protest in front of the National Palace of Culture in Sofia say: “Give the cabinet several months to show what it can do.” These people were probably deceived by the initiatives of the cabinet, thanks to which the child benefits went up and the number of people who receive benefits also increased. The cabinet also promises to increase the pensions.

“We want to be governed by people with intelligent point of view”, the protesting people in front of the building of the Ministerial Council demand and raise slogans which read “resignation” and “mafia”.

Yes, there must be new elections, but the question is when? If we hold them in the next few months, there is no guarantee that the situation will not repeat. And what shall we do then? The protest against the government will continue. However, it can not last forever. The good option probably envisages the opportunity this cabinet to prepare new elections next year and then we will see what will happen. The vote based on a new election code is the best decision. This could only work if the Bulgarian voters listen to the voice of their own conscience rather than in the advices and the promises of the political leaders.

In fact, I would like to remind about things that do not need any comment and throw light over the whole Bulgarian reality- the huge tragedy in the Oranovo metal mine and the unknown fate of the people who remained trapped under the earth. This accident gave reason for deep thoughts. The only person who does not look interested in the tragedy and did not show up in the mine is its owner. He probably gained the possession of the mine in the way which was mentioned above. Here is another fact-over 80% of the Bulgarian employers have secondary or lower education, shows data. They find it quite normal to hire well educated people for little money. Well, such an economy chases away its own luck as well as all highly esteemed people from this country. This finally brings all disappointed people in the streets.

English version: Kostadin Atanasov