Former Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov. Photo by BGNES
Bulgaria’s former Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has strongly criticized the country’s Socialist-led government in the aftermath of Tuesday’s crackdown on protesters.
Tuesday marked the 40th straight day of mass anti-graft protests against the country’s embattled government – and for the first time, police clashed with demonstrators.
Borisov, whose opposition center-right GERB party had boycotted Parliament for several weeks until Tuesday, told Nova TV early on Wednesday that the government “has been displaying retardation.”
The former PM noted that both protesters and police are irritated now that the rallies have continued for 40 days. He reiterated that the government should resign immediately, adding that early elections should be called instantly.
Borisov reminded that several Ambassadors of EU countries have backed the popular anti-graft protests.
Tuesday’s protest turned bloody at around 10 pm, when a bus carrying the ministers of finance, labor and economy, as well as an undisclosed number of ruling MPs, attempted to leave Parliament under heavy guard.
Protesters forced the bus to retreat, and several of them were beaten and injured by riot police.
By 2 am Wednesday, protesters had reinforced a blockade with garbage cans, street signs and paving stones, blocking vehicles from leaving any of the exits from Parliament.
Officials eventually left the building at around 5 am Wednesday, according to local media.
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.