Bulgarians Hold 26th Coffee-Drinking Rally near Parliament

Politics » DOMESTIC | July 22, 2013, Monday // 11:16
Bulgarians Hold 26th Coffee-Drinking Rally near Parliament: Bulgarians Hold 26th Coffee-Drinking Rally near Parliament Bulgarian economist Georgi Ganev (r) addressed the "unnecessary budget update" at an outdoors press conference on the square in front of the Parliament as part of the coffee-drinking protest rally. Photo by Konstantin Pavlov, Facebbok

Bulgarians are protesting once again Monday for the 26th day in a row by staging the now-traditional coffee-drinking anti-government rally in front of the Parliament building in downtown Sofia.

The participants are quoted in saying if needed they were ready to protest for four years against the Socialist-endorsed Cabinet of Prime Minister, Plamen Oresharski, in breaking a Guinness Record.

The stands offering free coffee to demonstrators are opened.

About 80 people have gathered on the square in front of the building of the Parliament. They have blocked one of the lanes of "Tsar Liberator" boulevard.

They are also saying that they have never seen such thick-skinned people as those currently ruling the country and others have mentioned that more serious actions might be needed such as not allowing the MPs to enter the building.

On Sunday, an anti-government information service, AIS, was launched in Bulgaria to publish unbiased news and messages related to the protest rallies against the Cabinet Oresharski.

AIS held its 1st initiative Monday. It featured economist Georgi Ganev, who addressed the "unnecessary update of the State budget 2013," planned by the government.

The press conference was held outdoors on the square in front of the Parliament through the Betahaus office as part of the coffee-drinking rally.

Meanwhile, the Cabinet is holding an emergency sitting at 12 noon to vote on the planed update of State budget 2013.

Recently, municipal councilors from the left-wing Bulgarian Socialist Party, BSP, issued a declaration asking Mayor, Yordanka Fandakova, to ban the protests.

Fandakova, who was elected on the ticket of the formerly-ruling center-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, GERB, continues to firmly reject any such requests, saying she did not want Sofia to turn into another Istanbul.

The Vice President of the European Commission, European Justice and Fundamental Rights Commissioner Viviane Reding is in Sofia Monday to participate in the public Citizens' Dialogue.

The morning protest is to merge with the traditional afternoon rally, the 39th in a row, starting 6.30 pm in front of the Council of Ministers building.

The series of 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 cabinet resign collectively over ties with oligarchs.

Protesters are also calling for Election Code amendments which will guarantee greater representation of the people in Parliament.

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Tags: budget, AIS, European parliament, elections, Citizens' Dialogue, consensus, European Commission, EU, Zinaida Zlatanova, protests, EU, EC, organized crime, corruption, judiciary, Viviane Reding, public order, GERB, president, Rosen Plevneliev, Plamen Oresharski, Delyan Peevski, protest, Bulgarian Socialist Party, Movement for Rights and Freedoms, resignation, Delyan Peevski, DANS, State Agency for National Security, Bulgarian Socialist Party, Plamen Oresharski, Bulgarian government, protests, parliament, rally, anti-government, City Hall, mayor, Yordanka Fandakova, petitions, update

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