Bulgarians Mark Day 36 of Anti-Govt Protest

Politics » DOMESTIC | July 19, 2013, Friday // 20:16
Bulgarians Mark Day 36 of Anti-Govt Protest: Bulgarians Mark Day 36 of Anti-Govt Protest In a surprise move, people demanding the resignation of the government in Bulgarian have taken a new route and the procession is now at the central railroad station in the capital Sofia. Photo Facebook

Thousands of Bulgarians have taken once again to the streets of the capital Sofia to demand the resignation of the country's government for a 36th day in a row.

Close to 2 000 are reported to be already on Independence square in front of the Council of Ministers building.

Some media report lower attendance, compared to previous evenings, others insist the Interior Ministry's official data purposely lists fewer people than the real number.

Some of the protesters have decided to show their resolution by dancing the traditional Bulgarian folk dance "horo" under the motto: "Once you start dancing, you cannot let go."

Many are waiving the national flag and banners. People are blowing whistles, hissing, and shouting "resignation."

There is very large riot police presence.

Surprisingly, the procession Friday evening abandoned the traditional route to the building of the Parliament and Eagles' Bridge and taken in the direction of "Maria Louisa" boulevard to the central railroad station.

There is no additional information, but some said the protesters might try to stage a blockade at the station. However, they only shouted resignation in front of the railway hub and left for downtown Sofia.

On Saturday, July 20, the #DANSwithme evening rally will include mass jogging, organized by the Greens party. It will start at 7 pm. The gathering point is the sidewalk across the headquarters of the Central Bank, BNB, near Independence square.

The Sofia City Hall has issued a permit for the event and the police have been assigned the task to provide security for it and redirect traffic.

The jogging will pass through "Tsar Liberator" boulevard, "Vasil Levski" boulevard, "Oborishte" street, the north side of the "Alexander Nevsky" cathedral, "Rakovski" street, back to "Tsar Liberator" boulevard.

Protest rallies are also held Friday evening in the second largest city of Plovdiv and the Black Sea cities of Burgas and Varna.

A much smaller rally in support of the cabinet Oresharski is held every evening as well in the park of the National Palace of Culture. 70 people, led by rapper Misho Shamara (Big Sha), are reported to be currently attending.

The series of the peaceful, but mass and persisting anti-government protests in Bulgaria was triggered by the scandalous appointment of media mogul Delyan Peevski as Chair of the State Agency for National Security (DANS).

Although the appointment was revoked, the people went on to demand that the Socialist-endorsed cabinet of Prime Minister, Plamen Oresharski, resign collectively over ties with oligarchs.

Despite the protests, the Bulgarian Parliament elected Friday another controversial individual, Vladimir Pisanchev, to lead DANS.

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Tags: Coalition for Bulgaria, BSP, blockade, coffee-drinking, anti-government, rally, parliament, protests, Bulgarian government, Plamen Oresharski, Socialist, State Agency for National Security, DANS, Delyan Peevski, DPS

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