5,000 protesters on two major crossroads in front of government headquarters in Sofia, Bulgaria, have blocked roads and set up tents on Eagle Bridge as they demand Prime Minister Boyko Borissov to resign with an immediate effect.
Since early July this year, Bulgarians have been daily protesting accusing three-times Prime Minister Borissov of failing to fight corruption that erodes the rule of law and benefits powerful local tycoons.
61-year-old Borissov, who has dominated Bulgaria’s political life in the past decade, has vowed to stay in office until next March when regular elections are due. He clearly refuses to quit.
Nikolay Hadjigenov, one of the protest organizers said, “The traffic blockades and other civil disobedience action would be maintained until Prime Minister Boyko Borisov resigns.”
He further added that Borisov won’t hear them and they don’t have any such illusions, so now they must bring him down by force.
“Please excuse the inconvenience, the country is under repairs,” slogans are being chanted by protesters who sat in shifts in 10 tents throughout the day blocking road traffic in central Sofia which home to some 2 million people.
In a Facebook message Prime Ministere Borissov late night he warned people against closing crossroads which is disrupting people’s normal lives.
He also said, “There are elections next year. Whoever wins them will govern. This is a democracy,”
No police intervention was seen during these protests nor was those tents vandalized.
Thirteen years after joining the EU, Bulgaria remains its poorest – as well as most corruption-ridden – member, according to Transparency International’s corruption perception index.