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Anastasia Balezdrova

For the 26^th consecutive day, the people are out in the streets of Sofia, spontaneously protesting against the government and parliament, without the support of any party or trade union organization. Their insistence has confused the government that tried to stop the mass participation by calling the protesters "idiots" and "George Soros’ paid mercenaries".

So far, GRReporter has sought political scientists, sociologists, political analysts and journalists to analyze the events. Today, it presents one of the tens of thousands of protesters. Poet and freelance publisher Vladimir Lyubenov who describes himself as a good taxpayer and active citizen is telling us why he is involved in the protests and what he expects from them.

The protests

We, the people who participate in the protest every day, are hoping that the government will fall soon, before the ministers and deputies escape and take a summer holiday. They, in turn, are hoping to stay over the winter. This is actually the struggle at present, namely, how long the cabinet will survive.

I am not at the protest every day but I am there twice a day on some days instead. What irritated me and made me go out in the street was that they had gone too far regarding their insanity which started with the incorrect interpretation of the results of the recent elections by the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and their collaborating partner the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF). They thought that they had won the elections and, since their attitude to the Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria (GERB) party was quite revanchist, they have decided that they will do whatever they want with them. Even the few people who had voted for the BSP and the MRF have never sent them to parliament to settle accounts with GERB.

They had started acting on a personal basis. Every sound-minded person saw red and, after one of their successive unreasonable acts and decisions (Delian Peevski’s appointment as the head of the State Agency for National Security – author’s note), the people somehow filled the square within 15 minutes and they have been there for 26 days already.

The participation in the protests and the opinions that they are subsiding

The trend is for the number of protesters to increase rather than for the protests to subside. So, I would recommend that they should not rely on this. The faster they orient themselves to resignation rather than to vacation the better.

To the contrary, the opposite is happening. The Ministry of Interior has also gone too far regarding the number of the protesters in order for it to be able to report to the government a figure to "relieve" it. It was talking about hundreds of protesters initially; it reported the highest number only two days ago, when the protesters filled the central avenue from the University to the Pliska hotel. When that space was filled with people, the Ministry of Interior said that the protesters were 3,000 in number which provoked only laughter instead of outrage. Yesterday, they added the reasonable zero to that number and now they are already talking about 30,000 protesters.

The trend is for the number of protesters to increase rather than for the protests to subside. So, I would recommend that they should not rely on this. The faster they orient themselves to resignation rather than to vacation the better. Especially after yesterday's statements of the ambassadors of Germany and France who directly told the government that, the power in Bulgaria could not depend on a clown-fascist.

Bulgaria and its European future

Europe and the people of Bulgaria will not allow the country to exit the European Union. The government itself does not want this to happen. Unfortunately, their unreasonable acts do make sense only if the ultimate goal is for the country to exit the European Union. However, this only illustrates how insane the actions of this cabinet are. Actually, I do not see a threat for Bulgaria’s membership. They will warn us several times and the message will reach the government. There is the view that, following yesterday’s statements of the ambassadors of the two countries which very clearly show how Europe perceives the events in Bulgaria, the members of the government and cabinet are in line at the "slaughterhouse". In the presence of an internal opposition, people in the streets and clear signals from Europe, I do not see any chance for them to survive. I do not think that these warnings are interference in Bulgaria’s internal affairs.

The President

His decision to support the protesters was an expression of the correct interpretation of the signals by a working institution because actually, the current parliament and cabinet are not reasonably functioning institutions. The President must be the unifier of the nation and he told them what we are all telling them. This is what is common sense - to listen and hear what tens of thousands of people tell them every day.

Volen Siderov

He is "exotic". According to the logic of his acts, Volen Siderov may require not only impeachment of the President but also Bulgaria’s accession to the Soviet Union as its 16^th republic. But the reaction to his call was unequivocal: # ignorevolen. The fact that the tens of thousands of people, who are going to these protests because of their reasons, have reacted as one to the initiative against Volen Siderov is unique. They have just ignored him. He could not stand this and became enraged. And when he becomes enraged he starts demanding even crazier things. On the one hand, he demands the impeachment of the President and on the other, the closure of the TV broadcaster in Burgas, which has created him because the new nationalist formation was established there. He has no sound reasoning. I do not know who has paid him more.

The early elections and the right wing in Bulgaria

In the event of early elections, I will vote for the same party for which I voted in the elections in May, namely "Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria".

I am only hoping at present that the right-wing parties will successfully complete the negotiations to create a new unified right wing. Choosing its leader may be difficult however. The parties and organizations themselves which have united in a Reformist Bloc are watching out for someone popping up as a leader, because they have all suffered from their leadership ambitions. In the short term, I am hoping that such a right-wing reformist bloc will be really put together and that it will be able to take part in eventual elections as an organization.

Interestingly, the GERB and Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) parties, which pretend to be "right-winged" and which are members of the European People's Party, are now very timidly and jealously watching this reformist bloc, because its participants have told them that they cannot be part of it in their present form. This is a bit absurd, but considering their participants, it is quite logical.

Are there leaders of the protests?

The protests have no leaders. The struggle now is for the government to get out immediately and then we will be able to appoint representatives, to create formations for which we, the people who are not represented in parliament at present, will be able to vote. In general, the aim is not for any of us to gain a deputy's salary.

The protests have no leaders. There are people who are bearing larger flags because they are stronger and others who are riding bicycles in the front rows. Recently, a ballerina presented a very beautiful dance on Eagle’s Bridge. However, these people are not leaders. I also happened to lead the column but I am far from being called a leader.

The protests have no leaders. There should be someone for whom the protesters could vote and nominate to enter the parliament. Each of us is aware of the fact that we do not understand the things well enough to become members of parliament. I as a person am far from being engaged in political categories. The struggle now is for the government to get out immediately and then we will be able to appoint representatives, to create formations for which we, the people who are not represented in parliament at present, will be able to vote. In general, the aim is not for any of us to gain a deputy's salary.

The media

They are very careful because they are facing discontent from both sides. I mean that if a media says that the protesters were 500 in number when their actual number was 10,000, it is normal that these 10,000 will perceive this media as a "communist tool" in the hands of Moscow or of any local socialists and services.

If the media are covering the protests too enthusiastically, the people from the government and parliament are starting to resent it. The media have been covering the protests relatively objectively since the first days and the speaker of parliament, Comrade Mikov, had to address the media through a statement, which was nothing more than waving a finger and threats. The media reacted quite sharply to this.

This is the perfect option. Of course, there are a lot of dependent media and they are covering the protests in compliance with the will of those who have paid them.

Bulgaria in a few years

Bearing in mind the things that happen every day, I cannot imagine it. Rather, I hope that we will break away, at least a little, from that model which has been imposed on us in recent years, and I hope that people concerned about the presence of normality in the country will govern it. Nobody wants miracles but nobody wants this insolence and completion of personal plans which are typical for those who have been able to climb to power recently.

They have established a new ministry of planning, consigning to the management of major projects a budget of over 10 million levs to the MRF. The Ministry of Economy and the smaller projects have been committed to the BSP. Projects are being assigned to people who have paid something to return the gesture and to serve private interests. I imagine the future as a time when a different policy will be pursued.

The protests at the dawn of democracy in 1997 and today

The big difference is that it was very cold at that time. Nevertheless, everything was very spontaneous then and many people were out in the street. Something happened every day again – there were barricades then and we were protesting night and day. It seems that things are going to "occupy" a longer part of the day. We began with afternoon protests, and now there is a morning coffee and lunch tea drinking outside the parliament. The aim is to make the deputies aware that there are people out there who will not give up.

In 1997, some communists had climbed to power who pretended to be socialists. They played the demagogue and acted foolishly again. And if the follies are moral and ethical at present, they were purely financial and economical then. They had caused terrible hyperinflation in the country, it actually went bankrupt and they plundered people's savings. Now, their plundering is more sophisticated but the people understand this and are out in the street to protest in the same spontaneous way.

Personally, I have always been involved in all protests. The reasons were different in 1989-1990.  We were very enthusiastic that something was happening and that Bulgaria would finally follow the path of normal countries. So, this is a tradition for me.

The current protests involve the children of the people of my age. This time, things come down to their future and they will fight to take back their country from the serial, the same members of this red party that is doing the same when it climbs to power.

However, the current protests involve the children of the people of my age. This time, things come down to their future and they will fight to take back their country from the serial, the same members of this red party that is doing the same when it climbs to power: during the governing of Lukanov, the state went bankrupt and they had set up things so that bread was rationed in peacetime. During the governing of Videnov, there was hyperinflation and now it is the turn of this citizen of Ukraine, Sergey Stanishev, and his associates of the MRF and the Attack party.