Protest outside Parliament against changes to Electoral Code

A protest against the changes in the Electoral Code was organised by “Democratic Bulgaria and “We Continue the Change”. Their supporters gathered in front of the Parliament building after 18.30 on December 1. The protest ended around 22.00.

"Mafia out" and "Fair and democratic elections" were some of the slogans that were heard on the square.

According to the protesters, the changes in the Electoral Code will set the country back decades. They see an attempt to bring back certain corrupt practices.

Shortly after the start of the protest, Kiril Petkov (former PM) and MPs from “We Continue the Change” and “Democratic Bulgaria” came to the square. Petkov thanked the people for their support and said they would continue to fight the so-called "paper-ballot coalition" to the end.

"Inside the fight will not be the same if you are not there on the outside. In fact, the backstage MPs are most afraid of you. We will fight tonight as long as we have to. We will not let them steal your vote, steal all of your taxes," he said from the podium. "Every small victory we win is a victory for the democratic development of our country," Petkov said.

He told the media that they had achieved several victories today, but there were still many paragraphs for the MPs to go through.

"What we are doing now is putting the spotlight on their every willingness to further substitute, to increase the fraud of the next vote. We had a couple of victories today - we were able to get the memory cameras back, we were able to block the MRF’s idea about the counters, which they put in at the last minute, then withdrew. These people, who are standing outside in the rain and the cold, have a huge contribution, because they're showing the people inside Parliament that they can't hastily push things through”, Petkov said.

On the Electoral Code, it is now very important that the code of the machines is absolutely transparent, that it is accessible to all who want it, to debunk the claims that the machines are not fair, he added.

Speaking to the protesters Atanas Atanasov, co-chairman of Democratic Bulgaria, said:

"We want reformist forces to govern Bulgaria. Unfortunately, the restorationists led by Borissov and Dogan have taken control of this building and we have to take it back. I am sure that together we will be able to do this and we should not give up. Boyko Borissov really wants to pin the democratic forces on his lapel, but this will not happen. We from Democratic Bulgaria are the guarantor that we will not allow Borissov to rule the country anymore."