Former Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov. Photo by BGNES
Former Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has demanded the immediate resignation of the country’s embattled Cabinet, as riot police cracked down on anti-government protesters late on Tuesday.
Borisov, whose opposition center-right GERB party had boycotted Parliament for several weeks until Tuesday, said a resignation would be the only move that could appease protesters.
“I saw protesters being beaten, and they did not provoke that,” the former PM said.
“Democracy cannot be done through police shields and batons,” he added, as cited by Dnevnik.bg.
Borisov called upon President Rosen Plevneliev to summon an emergency sitting of the consultative council on national security amid the ongoing turmoil.
Tuesday marked the 40th straight day of mass protests against Bulgaria’s Socialist-led government – and for the first time, police clashed with demonstrators.
Some 10 people were injured, the Bulgarian National Radio says. No serious injuries have been reported.
The series of rallies was triggered by the appointment of notorious media mogul Delyan Peevski as Chair of the State Agency for National Security (DANS) back on June 14, but the protesters were not appeased by the subsequent cancellation of the decision and went on to demand the resignation of the Socialist-led cabinet over ties with oligarchs.
Borisov and his center-right government stepped down amid mass protests back in February.