The Mayor of Sofia, Yordanka Fandakova, photo by BGNES
Keeping peace and avoiding violence during the protest rallies is the top priority of Sofia Mayor, Yordanka Fandakova, according to her own words.
"All calls for forced bans and for redirecting the rallies to other locations are inadequate considering the situation. And the ruling parties are passing the ball and trying to put the entire responsibility and blame on the Mayor and the Interior Ministry," she said, stressing good coordination among institutions in charge of preserving public order was crucial.
"Those in power can rule the country behind metal fences, but such rule could hardly turn effective over the lack of trust in it," the Mayor pointed out Sunday in an interview for Nova TV.
She further explained that the City Hall budget had not been affected negatively by the nearly 2-month long rallies against the Socialist-endorsed Cabinet of Prime Minister, Plamen Oresharski, demanding its immediate resignation.
Fandakova said that to the contrary, revenue collection has increased and improved since the beginning of the year, with BGN 8 M more collected in the first half of 2013, compared to the same period of 2012.
The Mayor was adamant the protests in the capital do not block or halt repair works either.