Bulgarian Telegraph Agency (BTA), 97-01-13

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From: Embassy of Bulgaria <bulgaria@access1.digex.net>

EMBASSY OF BULGARIA - WASHINGTON D.C.

BTA - BULGARIAN TELEGRAPH AGENCY

11-13 January, 1997

CONTENTS

[01] PRESIDENT ZHELEV: I WILL NOT ASK SOCIALIST PARTY TO FORM NEW CABINET

[02] POLICE RESORTS TO FORCE TO DISPERSE PROTESTORS AT PARLIAMENT'S BUILDING

[03] PRESIDENT ZHELEV CONVENES NATIONAL SECURITY CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL

[04] OPPOSITION CONTINUES PROTESTS

[05] IMF READY TO NEGOTIATE WITH NEW BULGARIAN CABINET

[06] PRESIDENT-ELECT STOYANOV MEETS AMBASSADORS OF EU STATES

[07] OUTGOING FOREIGN MINISTER PIRINSKI CONFERS WITH AMBASSADORS

[08] PARLIAMENT CHAIRMAN SENDOV MEETS DIPLOMATS

[09] POLITICAL FORCES ON THE INCIDENTS IN FRONT OF THE PARLIAMENT BUILDING

[10] PRESIDENT ZHELEV ADDRESS

[11] PRESIDENT-ELECT STOYANOV MEETS U.S. AMBASSADOR BOHLEN, RUSSIAN CHARGE D'AFFAIRS KORUCHENKO

[12] NATIONAL ASSEMBLY CHAIRMAN TO CALL FOR EARLY ELECTIONS

[13] OPPOSITION INSISTS ON EARLY PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS, LEFT AGREES ON NEGOTIATIONS

[01] PRESIDENT ZHELEV: I WILL NOT ASK SOCIALIST PARTY TO FORM NEW CABINET

"I was in front of the Parliament building, I went inside. Many young people gathered there demand early parliamentary elections and change. I have been warning for a whole year now that, judging by what happens in Bulgaria, events may get out of control. This already happened, it is a fact. It is the parliamentary group of the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the parliamentary (as opposed to presidential) form of governance of this country that are to blame for this," Zhelev said.

He stressed that he supports the protest of the people who "go to the streets of Bulgarian cities, after being reduced to this miserable and humiliating state". "I do not approve of violence and destruction; it does not serve democracy," Zhelev also said, appealing for law and order.

[02] POLICE RESORTS TO FORCE TO DISPERSE PROTESTORS AT PARLIAMENT'S BUILDING

On Friday afternoon the protestors stormed the Parliament building after the Left parliamentary majority did not approve the national salvation declaration, moved by the opposition United Democratic Forces (UtdDF, including the Union of Democratic Forces - UDF, the Popular Union coalition and the mostly ethnic Turks' Movement for Rights and Freedoms). The declaration demanded the disbanding of the current National Assembly and the holding of early elections. A number of injuries were reported and material damages were caused by those who forced into the Parliament's building.

Ambulances rendered first aid and carried away the injured. According to preliminary figures, so far nearly 100 wounded and teargassed people have sought medical aid. On Saturday The National Television broadcasted reports showing injured MPs, among them former head of the government of the UDF Filip Dimitrov.

Protest demonstrations have been staged for several days now around the country since a rally and march on January 3 organised by the united opposition with the support of trade unions pledged against a new government of the BSP, for early parliamentary elections and in support of the united opposition's declaration for national salvation. On Friday the Left parliamentary majority did not approve the draft moved by the UtdDF, demanding dissolution of the Parliament and early parliamentary elections.

On Friday Ivan Kostov, leader of the largest opposition force, the UDF, called on to the protestors not to yield to provocations and announced that the opposition is walking out of the National Assembly in protest against the actions of the government.

Special buses arrived at the Parliament just after midnight on Friday to take the deputies in small groups out of the besieged building. The MPs and the policemen were led out of the Parliament amidst a hailstorm of stones, cobbles and bottles, reads a news release of the Ministry of the Interior received at BTA on Saturday morning. The crowd of protestors stoned the MP's buses and the policemen and vandalized stalls along the streets. The police defended themselves with shields and applied clubs. (For some more details, see also the last story in this bulletin)

President Zhelev said on Friday that under these circumstances he will not ask the ruling Left to form a new cabinet, as it had been earlier announced. He convened a meeting of the National Security Consultative Council which opened at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

In a declaration on Friday the outgoing Government urged for preserving the public order and said it will take measures to guarantee the normal operation of the lawfully elected institutions.

President-elect Peter Stoyanov had a meeting during the night with outgoing Interior Minister and Left candidate for the Prime minister Nikolai Dobrev. After the meeting Peter Stoyanov said that the leaderships of the Left and of the opposition are going to negotiate today and that agreement has been reached to make concessions on from sides. He repeated his belief that the only way out of the current situation of public discontent is to fix a date for early parliamentary elections. Mr Dobrev would not comment.

[03] PRESIDENT ZHELEV CONVENES NATIONAL SECURITY CONSULTATIVE COUNCIL

Late on Friday night President Zhelev said that in the current situation he will not ask the ruling Left to form a new government on Saturday. The BSP will not give up its mandate, Left Floor Leader Krassimir Premianov said on Saturday.

"We believe the President should not ask the Socialists to form a new government, because the situation is explosive," Floor Leader of the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) Yordan Sokolov said on Saturday. In this situation early elections are imminent and the Socialists know it, Mr Sokolov said. He emphasized that the UtdDF will keep on protesting.

The army will not be involved in the situation as under the law it is not entitled to take part in the settlement of internal problems, Chief of General Staff Tsvetan Totomirov said upon his arrival at the presidency for the meeting. No involvement of the army in the situation has been considered, outgoing Defence Minister Dimiter Dobrev also said.

"The Government is taking efforts to keep the constitutional order; we believe this is a crucial moment for reaching agreement with the international financial institutions," outgoing First Deputy Foreign Minister Irina Bokova told reporters.

Reporters' questions to outgoing Interior Minister Dobrev, to Parliament Chairman Sendov and to outgoing Prime minister and former BSP leader Videnov remained unanswered.

The meeting was also attended by MPs of the ethnic Turks' Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF), the Bulgarian Business Bloc (BBB), the Popular Union coalition, by outgoing Finance Minister Dimiter Kostov and by other government members and experts.

Sofia, January 11 (BTA) The participants in the meeting failed to adopt a common stand. The representatives of the United Democratic Forces (UtdDF) proposed a declaration on the holding of early parliamentary elections and the starting of negotiations between the parliamentary forces on the date of their holding. President Zhelev expressed support for the idea to hold early parliamentary elections, Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) floor leader Yordan Sokolov said after the meeting. The holding of early elections was also supported by the Bulgarian Business Bloc and by the independent MPs.

The representatives of the Left rejected the proposal arguing that early elections would only aggravate the situation in this country.

Sokolov confirmed the intention of the UtdDF to walk out of Parliament and to stage a general political strike and civil disobedience. The UDF will try to keep the protests under control but it is already difficult to check the anger of the people, Sokolov said. Sokolov described yesterday's events as being provoked by the deep economic crisis and the despair of people brought to total impoverishment.

Outgoing prime minister Zhan Videnov has assumed the entire responsibility for the actions of the law enforcement authorities yesterday, Sokolov also said. Videnov explained that he had signed the order for these actions as the interior minister was in Parliament.

BBB MP Georgi Dilkov said that the BBB believes that the President should appoint Dobrev to form a new cabinet as Bulgaria needs to be represented in its contacts with the international financial institutions and the diplomatic representatives in this country. According to MP Dilkov, President Zhelev has said that he would not violate the Constitution and will appoint the left prime minister designate to form a cabinet, but he did not specify when.

The Constitution does not set a deadline for appointing a prime minister- designate to form a cabinet, presidential legal adviser Velcheva said, explaining Dr Zhelev's decision not to appoint Dobrev to form a cabinet on Saturday as expected.

President Zhelev promised to observe his constitutional duties and to issue a decree appointing prime minister-designate Nikolai Dobrev to form a cabinet in the next few days, PGDL floor leader Krassimir Premyanov said at a news conference held in connection with the meeting of the National Security Consultative Council on Saturday. The floor leader of the PGDL presented the President with the decision of the PGDL to nominate Nikolai Dobrev as its prime minister-designate. The President should issue this decree by January 22 at the latest Premyanov believes. "What is important for us is not the means but the content of the discussion for overcoming the crisis and we propose that all political forces take an active part in elaborating the necessary measures," Premyanov said. The representatives of the Left recalled that they are proposing negotiations not on early elections but on the state of this country.

President Zhelev said that early parliamentary elections would be the best solution to the present situation and this was also the stand of most of the participants in the meeting, Premyanov said.

[04] OPPOSITION CONTINUES PROTESTS

The chairman of the Sofia organisation of the UDF Evgenii Bakurdjiev was nominated to head the future protest actions of the opposition. The opposition will also organise local structures for management of the protest actions with the help of the opposition MPs.

The opposition will appeal to all living within a distance of 100 miles around Sofia to join its Sunday demonstration, Ivan Kostov said. It will stage another protest rally on the square in front of "St. Alexander Nevsky" cathedral on Sunday and every day during the week. We will voice our support for the UtdDF declaration and for holding new parliamentary elections, UDF Deputy Chairman Alexander Bozhkov said. We shall attend the inauguration of president-elect Peter Stoyanov on January 22 and let us hope that the problem of early parliamentary elections will be settled by then, he said. We have never demanded that Parliament be dissolved already today, but only after the laws on the currency board and the agreement with the IMF and the World Bank are prepared and a new Governing Board of the National Bank of Bulgaria is appointed, Mr Bozhkov said.

[05] IMF READY TO NEGOTIATE WITH NEW BULGARIAN CABINET

[06] PRESIDENT-ELECT STOYANOV MEETS AMBASSADORS OF EU STATES

[07] OUTGOING FOREIGN MINISTER PIRINSKI CONFERS WITH AMBASSADORS

Pirinski said that Bulgaria is experiencing an acute social, economic and political crisis. The storming of the Parliament on January 10 represents escalation of tension which may potentially have very dangerous consequences. Pirinski said that strict observation of Constitutional requirements and regulations must be secured to avoid further escalation of tension and to ensure fast normalization of the social atmosphere. The Government expects the country's partners to take certain stands in favour of development of the political process in Bulgaria within a democratic and constitutional framework and, respectively, on the inadmissibility of violence in public life and breaching of the law. It was also said that the Government expects to receive the necessary support in order to reach the indispensable agreements with the international financial institutions for the restructuring and stabilization of the economy.

The diplomats voiced views in support of the normalization of public and economic life in bulgaria and gave assurances that they will provide objective and detailed reports to their governments, the news release says.

[08] PARLIAMENT CHAIRMAN SENDOV MEETS DIPLOMATS

"I do not doubt that the purpose of the organizers was different from what happened and I do not accuse them of it. But I accuse them of letting the situation out of control and trying to avail themselves of it to impose their dictate on Parliament," Sendov told the diplomats. According to him. they agreed that in a democratic country solutions to political problems cannot be dictated from the position of force.

Before going to Parliament, representatives of foreign missions in Sofia were shown two videos of the events in the capital on the night of January 10 at the press office of the Ministry of the Interior.

Sendov also said that the diplomats will be advised additionally where the ceremony of the inauguration of the new president, Peter Stoyanov will take place.

[09] POLITICAL FORCES ON THE INCIDENTS IN FRONT OF THE PARLIAMENT BUILDING

The UDF believes that yesterday's incidents in front of the building of Parliament were purposefully provoked. "We have information that there were civilian policemen among the protesters yesterday inciting to aggression, UDF Deputy leader Nadezhda Mihailova said. The opposition believes that Parliament was rampaged not by protesters but by the troops of the Ministry of the Interior and policemen.

In their Declaration the UtdDF says that the MPs of the ruling Left were taken out of the building of Parliament around 2 a.m. which was followed by "an unwarranted massive attack by hundreds of policemen, armed with batons and shields, against the handful of people still remaining in the square." According to opposition data, some 160 unarmed citizens were injured in the clash, including former prime minister and UDF MP Filip Dimitrov and opposition MPs Kalcho Choukarov, Evgeni Mihailov and Georgi Panev. "There was also an attempt to assault President-elect Peter Stoyanov (nominated by the UDF) and UDF leader Ivan Kostov.

Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) leader Georgi Purvanov said on Saturday that we should ask ourselves how a legal rally was transformed into a rampage of the main symbol of the Bulgarian state - Parliament. Purvanov said this was a gross violation of the Constitution and a premeditated attempt to usurp the functions of Parliament and to dictate ultimatums in an unprecedented manner. There were MPs and party leaders who openly incited to violence against the democratically elected Parliament, the BSP leader said.

"No one was beaten just for the sake of it," National Assembly Chairman Blagovest Sendov said. "But some innocent people may have been hit because when the crowd rises no one is safe," he said. Sendov believes that the damage inflicted on the building of Parliament is for some 500 million leva. At least 15 days will be needed to make the building fit for holding sessions again, Sendov believes. This would necessitate the holding of sittings in other buildings.

BSP MP Mariana Hristova said on Saturday that six MPs of the Democratic Left had been injured, including the MP Zhivkov who was hit in the head with a stone and is in a critical condition.

[10] PRESIDENT ZHELEV ADDRESS

Zhelyu Zhelev declared his readiness to act as a mediator in the negotiations and said the MPs should not forget that the entire responsibility lies with them because by Constitution Bulgaria is a parliamentary republic.

[11] PRESIDENT-ELECT STOYANOV MEETS U.S. AMBASSADOR BOHLEN, RUSSIAN CHARGE D'AFFAIRS KORUCHENKO

"I told Ms Bohlen that I condemn the vandalism against the Bulgarian Parliament. At the same time, I emphasized my point that what happened must demonstrate to the Bulgarian politicians, those of the Left especially, that the Bulgarian people has changed. The Bulgarians ran out of patience and the politicians should no longer consider politics a game but to treat it as a most important issue," Stoyanov told the media after the meeting. Stoyanov is to be sworn in late January. Ms. Bohlen told reporters she expressed the hope of her country that the Bulgarian people will find a way out of the difficult situation.

Later Stoyanov met with Russian Charge d'affairs here Vladimir Koruchenko. "Our talks focused on the same topic as those with Ms Bohlen," Stoyanov told reporters after the meeting. "We hope that the foreign missions here will show understanding and that they will help in setting a date for early parliamentary elections," Stoyanov said.

[12] NATIONAL ASSEMBLY CHAIRMAN TO CALL FOR EARLY ELECTIONS

[13] OPPOSITION INSISTS ON EARLY PARLIAMENTARY ELECTIONS, LEFT AGREES ON NEGOTIATIONS

"Now it is quite clear that the Democratic Left should accept the condition for holding early parliamentary elections. I am saying this with the full awareness that so far I have rejected all preconditions but in the turn events have taken, the left-wing should show wisdom and unconditionally accept to negotiate with the opposition forces provided early elections are held," Sendov said. According to him, these talks should make it possible to form a new cabinet and for the opposition to take part in the work of Parliament, "as it is impossible to adopt economic stabilization measures when there is no working Parliament."

In a statement President Zhelev congratulated Sendov for his "statesmanlike attitude to the political crisis in this country". President Zhelev said that in the present situation in the country he would issue a decree appointing the left prime minister-designate to form a new cabinet when the political forces reach an agreement on early parliamentary elections and adopt an anti-crisis programme. Such an agreement would show that the political forces are ready to work not for their narrow partisan interests but for Bulgaria's salvation, President Zhelev believes. The Bulgarian people has clearly expressed its will, it is obvious from the scores and hundreds of thousands of Bulgarians on the streets and squares demanding early parliamentary elections this year, President Zhelev said.

"The idea for holding early parliamentary elections has long been considered by the leaderships of the BSP and the left but before embracing it we should realize that we have to solve other important problems related to the stabilization of the political situation in this country, easing confrontation and tension," said Socialist leader Georgi Purvanov in an interview for National Television. Therefore the prime task of the Left under these circumstances is the forming of a strong cabinet that would remain in office for a longer period of time." Purvanov said the Left was ready to start negotiations with the opposition and other parliamentary and extraparliamentary parties but is against the discussion of early parliamentary elections at these talks. "I would like to state firmly here that it is imperative for the President to issue a decree appointing the prime minister designate of the Democratic Left to form a cabinet in the next few days so as to overcome tension and to make it possible to start negotiations with the international financial institutions already next week," Purvanov said.

The opposition will negotiate with the ruling Socialists only after they agree to the holding of early parliamentary elections, the Political Council of the United Democratic Forces decided today. The opposition also said that it will organize daily protest actions from 16:00 to 20:00 across the country. The day the BSP tries to put to the vote in Parliament its new cabinet, the opposition will call a Nationwide Rally of No- Confidence and Protest, opposition representatives said. The Political Council of the UtdDF elected a team to organize a national political strike, chaired by Evgeni Bakurdjiev. Thousands of people gathered on the square in front of the St Alexander Nevski Cathedral for a rally organized by the opposition on Sunday which was attended by opposition leaders and President-elect Peter Stoyanov. The rally was preceded by protest marches along the central streets of Sofia. The marches were joined by university students.

President-elect Peter Stoyanov called on the BSP to sit at the table of talks and agree to the holding of early parliamentary elections. Peter Stoyanov won the presidential elections in early November with 60% of the vote as candidate of the opposition. These are the most dramatic days in Bulgaria's modern history, Stoyanov said in an interview for Darik Radio on Sunday. He attended the meeting of the opposition explaining that it is the duty of the Bulgarian president to be with his people.

The Podkrepa Labour Confederation announced today that it will call a national political strike on January 15 if the political situation remains unchanged by then.

Opposition and Socialists started talking about negotiations after the large protest rally in front of Parliament building on Friday. Protesters besieged Parliament where the MPs were debating a Declaration on the Salvation of Bulgaria moved by the opposition. Supporters of the opposition have been protesting since January 3 in Sofia and the provinces. On Friday they declared they would remain around Parliament until the ruling Socialists agree to the holding of early parliamentary elections. The protests culminated around 18:00 when the police cordon was broken and protesters made an attempt to enter Parliament building. At an extraordinary sitting of Parliament the Socialists declared that they are ready to negotiate for reaching agreement on this country's main problems but ruled out the possibility of holding early parliamentary elections.

At about 3 a.m. on Saturday the crowd of protestors was dispersed by police who cleared a path to lead the MPs of the ruling Left out of the Parliament building. Witnesses and doctors are cited in the media as saying that policemen used clubs against unarmed protestors. Various sources report between 150 and 250 injuries, among which MPs and policemen. The police denied the reports about ill-treatment of citizens and said it had acted in compliance with the law.

On Saturday morning President Zhelyu Zhelev summoned the National Security Consultative Council. President Zhelev said he would going to give a mandate to the Left to form a new government on Saturday as scheduled. Under the Constitution in case of government crisis the President should ask first the largest parliamentary force to form a Cabiner. The Constitution, however, does not specify the time limits within which this is to be done.

Opposition representatives who took part in the meeting of the Consultative Council on National Security said that the ruling party and the opposition had diametrically opposed stands. Later in the day the Left described the Friday events around Parliament building as an attempted street coup d'etat. In its address the BSP's leadership described the developments as an act of "political blackmailing of the elected representatives of the Bulgarian people which seeks to discredit their political will and humiliate the Parliament's dignity." The opposition said they are ready to go back on their demand for immediate elections on condition the Left agrees already now on the scheduling of early parliamentary elections. According to president-elect Peter Stoyanov the elections should be held already in early June this year.

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