Podcast in English
Text size
Bulgarian National Radio © 2024 All Rights Reserved

We’ve had enough - the leitmotif of the protests in Bulgaria

Photo: Ani Petrova

On the thirteenth day since the beginning of the protests in Bulgaria, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and Prosecutor General Ivan Geshev, the National Assembly must vote the fifth vote of no confidence in the cabinet of the ruling GERB party. The discussion of the arguments in the vote a day earlier took place amidst active protest actions in front of the parliament building under the title “Occupation of the National Assembly. Everyone out! ”


The expert in political communications Ivo Indjov describes a peculiar profile of the protesting Bulgarians - young people between 20-26 years old, university students in Bulgaria but also abroad, people with their own business, free professions, many young families. "Their main attitude to the processes in Bulgaria, to the conquered state, to corruption, to the connection of the oligarchy with the government is formed on the basis of comparison with what they see abroad, studying there, following what is happening in European countries, USA, the world through social networks”,said Indzhov in an interview with BNR and added: “These are highly informed people, educated, critical, mobile and most likely they have no affiliation to any political party. These are the people who can in no way be accused of playing along the lines of Communism-anti-Communism. They just want to live in a normal country or come back to live in one. ”


Evidence in this direction are the words of the active participant in the protests Martin Petrushev. Encouraged by the energy of the people, he is convinced that an awakening and a lack of tolerance are beginning to manifest in the collective consciousness of the Bulgarians. Our demands are for a comprehensive judicial reform, freedom of the media, but in the first place - the irreversible eradication of the corrupt parties entangled in oligarchic dependencies - BSP, MRF and GERB from power, he said in an interview with BNR.


The question is whether there will be audibility or certain people will continue to hold on tight to the bone, without caring about the opinion of Bulgarian citizens, said in an interview for the BNR Borislav Sandov - environmentalist and politician, co-chairman of the Green Movement. According to him, the government reacted inadequately to the fair protests, which led to their radicalization. In this regard, the university lecturer Prof. Lyudmil Georgiev warned the young people in Bulgaria to be vigilant so that they are not used by one or another party and called on them to create their own formation through which to join the government without registering. party.


What we see now is an effect not so much of the low rating of Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, but of the fact that besides the 25-30% of the people who support him, there are over 60% who are against him and it was they who spoke, the sociologist Andrey Raichev commented on the situation. According to him, there is no possibility for dialogue between protesters and the government, as there is a different "reading" of the socio-political reality.


The government cannot continue like this, and the big question is what the people want, said Mihail Mikov, a member of the BSP's national council, the opposition force that demanded a vote of no confidence in the cabinet. Even without Borissov, there will be a GERB party, "with the peculiarities of the electoral influence", but the question is what we will replace this government with and whether there will be more healthcare, education, integrity and less corruption after it, Mikov told the BNR: "Today young and educated people are protesting, but what will happen if those 200-300 thousand working poor or pensioners who live on BGN 250 a month go out to protest. These are questions to which every political party must give a clear answer: “What will happen after the fall of Borissov with pensions; What about unemployment? These are the big issues that everyone is running away from, and that's a serious risk."


"Hypothetically, the vote of no confidence is possible, as well as to end with a positive sign for the opposition. But this is a very unlikely scenario," predicts Dr. Alexander Dimitrov, political scientist and lecturer at UNWE. Whether the unlikely will happen or the government will do everything possible to complete its mandate, even at the cost of major personnel changes, remains to be seen.

Selection: Elena Karkalanova
Photos: Ani Petrova/BNR


Последвайте ни и в Google News Showcase, за да научите най-важното от деня!
Listen to the daily news from Bulgaria presented in "Bulgaria Today" podcast, available in Spotify.

More from category

Balkan developments

Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova took an oath to be "president of Macedonia" The inauguration of Gordana Siljanovska as the first female president of the Republic of North Macedonia caused an international scandal. In..

published on 5/17/24 2:15 PM

People with Bulgarian passports in North Macedonia voted for both the ruling party and the opposition

On May 8, extraordinary parliamentary elections and a second round of presidential elections were held in North Macedonia. Before the vote, one of the leading Albanian publicists in the country called the Bulgarians "orphans" in the..

published on 5/10/24 10:30 AM

Election campaign for 9 June 2-in-1 elections kicks off

The 30-day election campaign in Bulgaria begins at midnight on 10 May – the 6 th campaign for national parliament in the space of three and a half years. What makes this one different is that this time the voting will be for both members of the 50..

published on 5/10/24 5:10 AM