Protests, clashes, civil discontent, extraordinary briefings, calls for resignations, political accusations and explanations – all these have been part of Bulgaria’s agenda for several days. The protests even managed to displace information about Covid-19 from the leading place in the news that used to be occupied by fears for our health for months. It also seems that the voice of protests will continue to have an echo for a long time in the news programs, as well as in the heads and actions of Bulgarian politicians.

"The protests will continue because strong public energy has accumulated," political scientist Petar Cholakov told the BNR.

"In order for at least part of the tension to drop, resignations must be filed. But they should not be limited to police chiefs, the National Security Service, etc., but to people at the upper levels of power. For example, Chief Prosecutor Ivan Geshev. According to the majority of protesters, he does not act in accordance with his duties, but on the contrary, his actions were politically motivated."

Prof. Evgenii Dainov from New Bulgarian University says “the protest is politically literate and the way out of this situation is called elections”.

"All power is falling apart like a sand tower. And it is falling apart because it has no support among citizens. Bulgarians are patient and tolerating but politically literate people and when they get enough they explode. We see this every three, four or five years. Currently people are really fed up, but the way out of the situation they are proposing is political one, because this is not a riot that involves breaking shop windows, burning cars, or destroying monuments. This is a politically literate protest and elections are the way out of it.”

Behind the call for resignation of the government we see an amalgam of interests, not only of political character but also business ones, said Assoc. Prof. Stoycho Stoychev, political scientist and lecturer at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski”. According to him, there was a feeling of crisis in society, without actually having a real crisis situation.

"The problem with corruption and the lack of transparency in the government is an old one. People have been talking about it for 30 years. We have been fighting the mafia for 30 years and nothing requires us to solve this problem immediately at the current moment. Moreover, there is no clearly formulated alternative. It would have been different if there was a political entity that could present alternatives and say what they would do after winning the elections. But we do not see such a thing.  The issue is conceptual and concerns the role of protests in a democracy. When we as citizens get used to ousting governments with protests from the streets, it gives us the false feeling that things are fixable. People feel that no matter who is elected, they could remove them later with protests if needed. But appointing governments and cabinets from the street is not a democracy, but a very different kind of government."

Editor: Krassimir Martinov

English: Alexander Markov