Radio Free Europe, Claire Bigg, November 14, 2013
 |
| Students held up their hands to protest what they regarded as police violence during an antigovernment protest in downtown Sofia on November 13. |
Unrest is
escalating in the Bulgarian capital as students step up street protests calling
for the government's resignation.
Hundreds of
students are camped out for a third day around the parliament building in the
Bulgarian capital, Sofia, to demand that the Socialist-led government bow out
and make way for snap elections.
The
protests are part of an ongoing campaign against what students denounce as the
new government's links to murky businessmen amid grinding poverty in the
country, the EU's poorest nation.
Over the
past three weeks, they have occupied universities across the country and held
almost daily rallies, including a thousands-strong "march of justice"
in downtown Sofia on November 10.
Demonstrators
accuse authorities, whose reaction so far has consisted mainly of attempting to
quell the protests, of failing to heed their grievances.
"They
are ready for anything just to silence us," Alexander Popov, an
English-language student who was injured in clashes with police outside
parliament earlier this week, said. "They don't want us to oppose the
corruption, the oligarchy, and the system that they have all created and that
they feel so comfortable maintaining."
False
Start?
Anger over
Bulgaria's deep-rooted problems brought down the last government, a
center-right minority, in February.
But the new
government formed under Prime Minister Plamen Oresharski has lost much of its
support amid allegations of corruption.
The deputy
leader of the MRF party, a junior partner in the ruling coalition, quit earlier
this month and has since been placed under investigation for alleged tax fraud
and money laundering.
The latest
surge in protests was sparked by the Constitutional Court's decision to allow
media mogul Delyan Peevski to retain his seat in parliament despite being
appointed as head of the powerful state agency for national security.
Peevski's
appointment to the agency in June had sparked an outcry and been quickly
reversed by parliament under pressure from protesters.
The
protests against what many Bulgarians see as rampant government graft and
impunity, however, have not abated.
"Crimes
are never punished," Tatiana Vaksberg, a Sofia-based journalist, says.
"It's a judicial system that barely functions, where high-profile cases
against organized crimes never bring any results. What we need are a state and
state structures that function."
So far, the
protests have been largely peaceful.
Demonstrators
have used nonviolent tactics and humor to press their demands, portraying
Oresharski as a "zombie" and putting the Constitutional Court --
which is seen as loyal to the government -- up for auction on eBay.
The October
30 auction, which the site took down after a few hours, described the item on
sale as "not functioning as intended and not fully operational" and
said it would be most useful to mafia members or corrupt members of parliament.
'Lies And
Tycoonization'
But the
growing frustration felt by Bulgarians has resulted in tragedy, including a
series of self-immolations to protest low living standards that left at least
nine people dead earlier this year, leading to the previous government's fall.
Polls show
the latest protests are backed by some 60 percent of Bulgarians, who are weary
of corruption, political instability, and economic hardship in their country 24
years after the end of communist rule.
Many
university professors and teachers have thrown their weight behind the
students, issuing a statement that condemned the "lies and 'tycoonization'
of the political and social environment."
"There
is a growing consensus that this situation is untenable and that preterm
elections are the only way out," Daniel Smilov, a professor of political
science at Sofia University, says.
According
to Smilov, the protests have helped consolidate civil society in Bulgaria and
have the potential to bring long-term political change.
"The
good thing about these long protests is that they've created networks of active
citizens," Smilov says. "Many types of active groups of citizens in
the big cities got a chance to communicate with each other, and they started to
like it. This makes me optimistic about future events because this is a
critical mass of people who could have an impact. I think politicians will have
to take the views of these people into account."
Since the
communist demise, the birthrate in Bulgaria has dropped, the mortality rate has
risen, and emigration is on the rise.
Membership
of the European Union has failed to bring prosperity to the country, where the
average monthly salary is just $530.
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