What’s going on in Bulgaria? (March 2013)

WHAT’S GOING ON IN BULGARIA?

In the last month events from Bulgaria have circulated the national and international press, claiming that high energy bills brought people to the streets. Many of my loved ones and friends asked me: “What’s going on in Bulgaria”? The issue is much bigger than simply energy bills. Therefore, to answer this question thoroughly, I need to give an insight into the context and the bigger picture leading to the protests.

How did it all start: short-term causes

In early February this year, after receiving an unusually high bill for the month of December/January, a lady from Blagoevgrad (south-west Bulgaria), called Lyudmila MANOVA, shared on her Facebook that she had an unusually high bill. Other friends started commenting and sharing. Spontaneously, people realised that all of them had very high bills for this month and they organised for a gathering of around 2,000 people outside the office of the energy company (the exclusive monopolist for western Bulgaria – ČEZ, a Czech state-owned energy company that privatised the sector nearly 9 years ago).

The crowd went out of control and, although no violence erupted, they did not obey police orders. MANOVA, identified as “the organiser” for the purpose of police rules, was arrested for a brief period. Her arrest immediately went viral on all media and social media and sparked a nationwide fury over the arrest itself, but also sympathy to the cause. As a result, the social media organised a nationwide protest for 10th February, Sunday. Llarge amounts of people gathered on a civilised, non-violent protest against the high energy bills and the monopolists energy companies. 

The quick spill-over: long-term causes

By 10th February, the popular energy was out on the streets, the genie was out of the bottle. For most people protesting, the link between the high electricity bills and the long-term status quo in the country was something apparent. That is, the total destruction of the nation for the last 23 years since socialist system in Bulgaria collapsed. The list is long. To mention a few of the long-term issues of our country:

• Extremely low income: minimum salary in Bulgaria is 310 leva, or around 165 Euros, average salary is around 350-400 Euros per month.
• Criminal “privatisation”. Since the collapse of socialism, endless number of NGOs, economists, political and non-political analysts have flooded the public spectrum with the mantra of: “The state is per definition a bad owner”, “Privatise immediately and now” etc. And it did happen. Privatisation in Bulgaria has largely meant: very dodgy deals of often huge and lucrative state-owned assets (factories or companies) sold to dodgy buyers in non-transparent ways, whereby corrupt officials sell huge assets to the “right” circles of people for very low prices.

In a similar way, for no obvious economic reasons, the profit-making state-owned electricity provider was privatised in 2004. Since then, electricity prices have risen with more than doubled or even tripled. 

• Economy has been going down to zero, there is virtually no production. In the last 23 years, more than 2,200 factories closed or “privatised”.
• This has meant that numerous jobs were lost, especially in the countryside.
• Joblessness and lack of opportunities have lead to serious depopulation of entire regions and an enormous exodus of people, emigrating either to the large cities or abroad. The population of Bulgaria in 1989, at the collapse of socialism, was almost 9mln people. Currently, it stands below 7 million, around 6.9 million. This is a decrease of 2mln people in just over 20 years, or almost 25%. Some experts rightfully call it a demographic catastrophe. No war or disaster in the history of this country has lead to such a catastrophe.
• …

The list is very, very long.

Thus, the high electricity bills at the end of January were simply the very last drop that made the glass spill. A glass that was already absolutely full. Therefore, portraying these as “protests against high energy bills” is a gross over-simplification that does not take the essential background into account, the very context in which these protests erupted.

“Non-partisanism of protests”

There is one underlying, constant element of all protests in all cities: the non-partisan nature of these protests. People came out to the streets against an entire system. People are tired from 23 years of promises. Parties from the entire political gamma have switched in the last 23 years of “democracy” in Bulgaria: left, right, centre, right, left, again, right, centre… The direction, however, has seemed to remain all the same: a one-way free-fall to low income, high living costs, unbearable social conditions, extremely low pensions, “privatisation”, and a political class that has seemed to only become richer and covered in corruption.

“Protest every day”

Throughout almost entire month of February, people gathered in Sofia, Varna, Plovdiv, Burgas and all other major cities to express their discontent with how the country was being run in the last 23 years. Some ministers came out to explain that “checks and audits into the electricity companies WILL begin soon”. This could hardly do anything to calm the protesters down. On the contrary, it raised question as to: where was the State so far to control them? Are you really beginning the audits just now?

It was not enough. Protesters united in their demands of withdrawal of the licences of the electricity companies (ČEZ (Czech), EVN (Austrian) and “Energo-pro” (Czech)) and, ultimately, their nationalisation. However, ministers made it categorically clear: “No nationalisation is possible.” Again, they reiterated that checks and audits will begin soon.

This, naturally, could hardly calm protesters down.

“Turning point”

On Sunday 17th February, more than 100,000 people went out in over 35 cities across the country, making this the largest protests in the country since January 1997. The revolutionary energy could be felt everywhere, the country was shaken by an enormous wave of peaceful protests. This weekend, the Prime Minister, Boyko Borissov, usually on TV almost every day, speaking “modestly” of the “enormous success” of his government, was nowhere to be seen. It turned out that on Sunday, he played football with some friends. Fair enough.

None of the main officials came up on TV (with the notable exception of poor economics minister, put to the forefront as a media scapegoat) or any media for 3 (three) days. Something big was going to happen, this was the sentiment in the air.

A huge protest on 17th February. Picture taken from Varna. Source: PIK news agency

On Tuesday 20th February, after 3 days of silence, the prime minister Boyko Borissov organised a press-conference. He was asked whether he would resign, something he denied vigorously.

On the table, next to him, was a lady, called Daniela PELOVSKA, which was presented as “the representative of the protesters”. A lady no one had ever seen at any protests, all of a sudden, appeared on TV as the “uniting” figure. She claimed to have a list of claims of “the protesters”. Journalists quickly checked on their tablets and smartphones: it turned out the lady is a millionaire businesswoman, who never participated in any of the protests, and her two children work for the ruling party in different local authorities.

Therefore, the attempt of the prime minister to calm down the protests and present himself as “accepting the demands of the protesters” was highly counter-productive. People were totally disgusted by this cheap Balkan circus and a lame attempt to manipulate public opinion. This time, however, unsuccessful, thanks to the Internet and the social media. People remained informed and pressure on the prime-minister was huge.

The fall of the government

On the night of 19th February, after the press-conference of Boyko Borissov, a protest turned violent. Starting as a peaceful gathering of people, all of a sudden, some football hooligans entered the protest and started provoking the police and the police answered accordingly. Stones were thrown, clashes and arrests ensued. One man had his head completely covered in blood. His image circulated all national and international media.

A man with a head covered in blood, Sofia, 19th Feb. Source: Rozali.com

On the next morning, the Prime Minister came to Parliament to announce that he and his government were resigning as he “could not watch blood upon the asphalt in the city centre of Sofia” and that “Having a parliament constantly encircled by police fences and riot police was not normal. […] We were given the power by the people, today we return it back to them”. (Sounds noble, doesn’t it.)

A man with a head covered in blood, Sofia, 19th Feb 2013. Source: Rozali.com

On the next day, the Parliament accepted his resignation . The protests had made a government collapse.

Life after Boyko Borissov and the ruling GERB party

There we were, Bulgaria had no government. The Prime Minister had fallen.

Protests, however, continued. The media, the political class and elite seemed deaf to the real issue: this is not about ousting one government/party and replacing it with another. This is about this same one-way street to catastrophe that ALL political parties had been leading the nation to in the last 23 years of “democracy”.

As a result, protests did not stop. Every day, they continued. At the end of the day, not a single one of the demands of the protesters were met or heard. Boyko Borissov simply resigned, leaving all the issues at stake unsolved.

Enormous rallies took place on 25th February and the largest so far, probably, on the 3rd March (which is also the National holiday for the Liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman empire, end of Russo-Turkish war, 3rd March 1878)

“Bulgaria” written in Cyrillic with people, Varna, 3rd March 2013. Source: Bulgariaoggi.com

On top, there are 4 people who set themselves on fire to date. Three of them died, one of them is in critical condition in hospital. All in desperation against the status quo in Bulgaria. Media tries to play down the importance of this act of ultimate desperation by claiming they are “mentally insane”, but they clearly sent a strong message: Something is just not right here.

“Why keep protesting?”

Media, political analysts, shows, programmes etc. kept questioning the movement. Media seemed desperate to find a leader, a list of demands, to somehow confine the protesters in the terms they are used to; they asked, why don’t the protesters create a political party and run for the elections… They were trying to somehow put it into a box.

But this case is different. This gigantic pressure that has been gathering and impending upon an entire nation was finally unleashed with huge force. An explosion. A huge energy that HAD to leave, to come out. A nation sick of its ruling class and status quo. A resignation in this context meant nothing of significance.

Elements of the movement

• Horizontal: protesters, “organisers” and “leaders” alike are adamant that this is not a political party speaking, this is not a movement that seeks a certain political party in power. This is a horizontal movement, where everyone can speak, participate, express discontent, simply come out and speak. Media and analysts have been critical, asking “who is your leader”, the answer: “We are here and stand behind ideas, not people”.
• Social media and the Internet: A huge strength and advantage to the recent protests. Attempts to compromise the movement, to manipulate, to undermine the movement.. People are not silly anymore, they have Internet, where censorship is impossible.
• Non-violent: At the very beginning, there was a campaign: “Give the police a hug and flower” 

Source: kliuki.bg

Source: btv.bg

The police, as a result, has mostly been very tolerant to protesters. At the end of the day, they also have the high bills, we live in the same country.

What’s next?

The protests continue nationwide, every Sunday. I went to the protests on Sunday and I must admit, the energy was somewhat lower, in terms of numbers at least, not as many as before. However, the energy remains there. It is not so easy to change an entire system. Those on top, who have a lot to lose, will hold on to what they have and will fight back vigorously. There will be a huge opposition.

On Tuesday 12th March, the president appointed an expert cabinet with new faces that people have hardly ever seen. Their mandate is until the next elections take place (12th May). It remains to be seen what their policy will be. However, I have many indications to believe that the times ahead will be vibrant. The social tension is huge and the caretaker government, if it fails to deliver, will be swept away by other protest waves. I am afraid a long-term political crisis is highly likely to happen in Bulgaria.