Mothers of disabled children stage a protest demanding Deputy PM to resign

Мothers of children with disabilities staged a protest outside the building of the Council of Ministers on 22^nd of October. They blocked the traffic on Dondukov Boulevard for about two hours. Other citizens joined them.

Some of them tried to break through the police guard and enter the building. Protesters do not accept the apology given by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov on behalf of the government. They want a disciplinary dismissal of Deputy Prime Minister Simeonov. According to them, if this does not happen - it would mean that the government agreed with him. They also wrote an open letter to the Prime Minister, the Speaker of Parliament and to Valeri Simeonov himself. Mothers are firm that if there is no resignation, they will switch to civil disobedience.

On 19th of October, protesting mothers of disabled children insisted on the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov because of a statement in which he described protesters as "a group of shrill women who speculated with their children, manipulated the society, taking out in the streets those allegedly ill children in hot weather and rain."

Earlier today, Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov said he did not intend to resign. Simeonov made the resignation comment after a meeting with representatives of employers' organizations in the Council of Ministers.

He explained that there are two hypotheses for a resignation - the first is for political reasons and only if it is requested by Prime Minister Boyko Borissov and his coalition partners. The second hypothesis is for personal reasons. He said he firmly stands behind every word he said about the mothers of children with disabilities.

Mothers of children with disabilities as well as citizens protested outside the Council of Ministers today. The protest wss organized in social media networks.

Representatives of employers' organizations stated that they do not accept pressure from the street and social media networks for the resignations of government representatives.

Evgeni Ivanov, Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria: We have a common position on the request for resignation, which is absolutely illegitimate, under pressure from the street and from social networks. And if we had three absolutely unnecessary resignations of ministers working well, the fourth would be very difficult to swallow. The street can not dictate the behaviour of people in this building- I am referring to the government. If someone wants to bring us 20,000 again - we will do it, but we will not give the legally elected power to be replaced by street pressure.

The meeting between the employers and Deputy Prime Minister Valeri Simeonov took place at the request of the business. They strongly disagree with some changes in tax laws, such as raising the maximum insurance threshold from 2,600 to 3,000 BGN as well as employers paying the the first three days of sick leave. They also disagree with the obligation to employ people with disabilities in companies – with staff up to 50 people this means that 2 people would be with disabilities, and in companies where more than 50 people work, it means 2% of the staff.