2 Bulgarian Stats Experts Resign over Ethnic Scandal

Politics » DOMESTIC | September 14, 2010, Tuesday // 16:12
2 Bulgarian Stats Experts Resign over Ethnic Scandal: 2 Bulgarian Stats Experts Resign over Ethnic Scandal The NSI online census questionnaire stirred tensions in Bulgaria over the listing of several ethnic groups. File photo

The Bulgarian cabinet approved Tuesday the resignations of two Deputy Directors of the Bulgarian National Statistics Institute (NSI), the government press center reports.

The two are Mustafa Zinal Hasan and Galina Mitkova Goycheva-Lukarska. Their contracts will be terminated effective September 10.

Hasan and Goycheva-Lukorska say they wished to be released from their duties because they assume responsibility for the ethnic tensions surrounding the trial online census and revolving around a questionnaire including different ethnic categories.

The motives for their dismissal are listed as poor work performance of the departments dealing with demographic and social statistics and IT and communication technology.

The tensions stemmed from criticism related to the NSI online census questionnaire giving as possible answers for ethnic groups: Bulgarian, Turkish, Roma, and a 4th option listing ethnicities such as Bulgarian-Muslim, Macedonian, African-American, among others, prompting the Head of the National Statistics Institute (NSI), Mariana Kotseva to also submit her resignation last Wednesday.

A day later, Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, rejected the resignation, saying Kotseva is a needed expert and vowing to impose sanctions on the culprits for the controversial ethnic categories.

Last week Bulgaria's nationalist VMRO party, who were the strongest critics of the questionnaire, reiterated their demands to find out why another member of the census team – Mustafa Zinal Hasan is keeping his post, but voiced satisfaction their proposal to leave the "others" category blank, and give the respondents the opportunity to fill it themselves was accepted.

Upon the announcement of the news about the Tuesday resignations, VMRO issued another declaration saying the dismissals were not sufficient and the two must be tried in court.

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Tags: VMRO National Statistics Institute, NSI, Mariana Kotseva, resignation, Boyko Borisov, ethnic groups, Mustafa Zinal Hasan, Galina Mitkova Goycheva-Lukarska

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