Bulgarians Pick Anti-Govt Protests as Symbol of 2013 - Poll

Politics » DOMESTIC | December 16, 2013, Monday // 14:35
Bulgaria: Bulgarians Pick Anti-Govt Protests as Symbol of 2013 - Poll During the last months of 2013 Bulgaria’s capital Sofia witnessed occupation of university buildings that injected new life into a persistent anti-government movement. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency

The outgoing year, which will go down in history as full of unrest against the Socialist-led government, is best described and symbolized by the word "protest", according to 40% of Bulgarians.

The data came from a survey among 1011 Bulgarians conducted by the sociological agency Alpha Research in the period November 30 – December 8.

The anti-government protests, the protests against poverty, unemployment and corruption, fuelled by high electricity bills and the studentsprotests are among the top five events of 2013.

Nearly half of the respondents - 47% - are negative about this year’s events.

There are four main reasons for the escalation of negative evaluations at the end of 2013 - the economic situation of households and businesses, the critically low trust in PM Oresharski’s cabinet, the external evaluations of the situation in the country, and the lack of a common goal and ideas for the development of Bulgaria.

The unfavorable environment and the lack of personal perspectives underlie the desire of 6.7% of Bulgarians to seek employment in another EU country after the job restrictions are removed on January 1 2014. Two thirds of them are under 30, 15% - under 40, 26% - have higher education, and 48% have high school education.

The Bulgarian Socialist Party enjoys the support of 16.5% of the polled,  15.8% of the respondents back the opposition center- right GERB, 6.1% - the predominantly ethnic Turkish  Movement for rights and freedoms (DPS) and 6.9% the right-wing Reformist bloc.

No more than 38% of respondents are optimistic about what next year will bring, while 29% are not. Their hopes are based on three symbols ‘integrity’, ‘elections’ and ‘success’.

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Tags: protests, anti-government, students, Prime Minister, Plamen Oresharski, BSP, DPS, GERB, Reformist Bloc, job restrictions

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