BULGARIA: Bulgarians pessimistic about upcoming parliamentary electionsl and do not expect changes

Record ID: 838427

  • Title: BULGARIA: Bulgarians pessimistic about upcoming parliamentary electionsl and do not expect changes
  • Date: 8th May 2013
  • Summary: SHIROKI DOL, BULGARIA (MAY 06, 2013) (REUTERS) WIDE VIEW OF VILLAGE ROAD SIGN: SHIROKI DOL VARIOUS OF VILLAGE PEOPLE SITTING, DRINKING BEER CLOSED SHOP IN CENTRE BICYCLES PARKED VARIOUS OF HALF-TORN ELECTION POSTERS ABANDONED BUILDING WITH OBITUARIES UP FRONT VARIOUS OF MOTHERS WITH CHILDREN LOCAL VILLAGERS AT VILlAGE CENTRE (SOUNDBITE) (Bulgarian) LOCAL VILLAGER KIRIL SHAREKAPOV, SAYING: "There is no perspective at all. Properties are abandoned, nobody wants to work, I don't know where we are heading to. My party went through so many transformations - communist, socialist, part of coalitions and what not, but we still vote for the socialists (Bulgaria's Socialist Party)." YOUNG MEN SITTING (SOUNDBITE) (Bulgarian) LOCAL VILLAGER ANGEL LOBUTOV, SAYING: "Look at these people over there - they are all unemployed. Playing cards all day - there is no work!" UNEMPLOYED MEN SITTING (SOUNDBITE) (Bulgarian) LOCAL VILLAGER ANGEL LOBUTOV, SAYING: "These elections could change things for the better if the people who would become ministers were not scoundrels." CAMERA PAN TO KIRIL SHAREKAPOV, SAYING (Bulgarian): "We are not happy that those people who crippled us are still at the top - Borisov, Tsvetanov (leaders of ex-ruling party GERB)." VILLAGE STREET SOFIA, BULGARIA (MAY 07, 2013) (REUTERS) SIGN: "INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL SURVEYS AND MARKETING (ISSM)" MIRA RADEVA, HEAD OF ISSM, ENTERING BUILDING (SOUNDBITE) (Bulgarian) MIRA RADEVA, SOCIOLOGIST, HEAD OF INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL SURVEYS AND MARKETING, SAYING: "Our country has definitely chosen the path to become a Latin America type of the country, where a small group of people, maybe a hundred families, profit from the energy sector, one very small group of rich literally vegetate on the backs of masses of very poor and very low-paid people." READING GLASSES (SOUNDBITE) (Bulgarian) MIRA RADEVA, SOCIOLOGIST, HEAD OF INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL SURVEYS AND MARKETING, SAYING: "Our society moves from one manipulation to another which only serves the interests of a very small elite of oligarchs. I think that most of the recent scandals are orchestrated by this economic elite. Feeling of desperation is being consciously spread among people: that there is no perspective, that everyone (in power) is a scoundrel, that we have no choice and this was obvious during the last two months of (election) campaigning which followed the protests." VARIOUS OF SOCIOLOGISTS AT ISSM WORKING SAMOKOV, BULGARIA (MAY 06, 2013) (REUTERS) CENTRAL SQUARE WITH PEOPLE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AT TOWN CENTRE (SOUNDBITE) (Bulgarian) PENSIONER MARIA, SAYING: "Many people say they would not vote this time, that's it." PEOPLE SITTING AT CAFE ELECTION POSTERS
  • Embargoed: 23rd May 2013 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Bulgaria
  • City:
  • Country: Bulgaria
  • Topics: General,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVADKZAEFEMKN898XM3BL7H5900W
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  • Story Text: Bulgarians will head to the polls on May 12 in a national elections widely expected to bring victory to GERB and its leader Boiko Borisov, whose center-right government resigned in February following mass protests.
    Tens of thousands have taken to the streets across the country to complain about low wages, high bills and deep-seated corruption and to demand more spending to help the economy recover from a deep recession.
    On the eve of the elections few believe that the vote will bring changes.
    In Shiroki Dol, 70 km southwest of the capital Sofia, the mood is gloomy.
    Once flourishing picturesque hillside village, Shiroki Dol looks neglected , with public facilities closed down and falling apart. Many residents have been unemployed for years, since factories in the nearby town of Samokov went bankrupt and closed down.
    "There is no perspective at all. Properties are abandoned, nobody wants to work, I don't know where we are heading to. My party went through so many transformations - communist, socialist, part of coalitions and what not, but we still vote for the socialists (Bulgaria's Socialist Party)," said Kiril Sharekapov, Shiroki Dol resident.
    "Look at these people over there - they are all unemployed. Playing cards all day - there is no work!", said another villager Angel Lobutov.
    Bulgaria's 4.9 percent drop in employment in 2012 was the EU's highest. Although official unemployment is in line with the EU average and lower than in Spain, Portugal or Greece, people fall out of official data after a year and industry officials say the real rate is closer to 18 percent.
    Despite wide-spread pessimism and frustration most of Shiroki Dol residents plan to go to the polls and vote for the party which was in power when the village thrived - Bulgaria's Socialist Party.
    "These elections could change things for the better if the people who would become ministers were not scoundrels", said Lobutov.
    "We are not happy that those people who crippled us are still at the top - Borisov, Tsvetanov (leaders of ex-ruling party GERB)," Sharekapov added.
    Borisov's GERB is expected to be the largest party after the poll but a hung parliament is likely and could raise questions over economic policy, under which Bulgaria has kept debt low to maintain a currency peg to the euro.
    "Our country has definitely chosen the path to become a Latin America type of the country, where a small group of people, maybe a hundred families, profit from the energy sector, one very small group of rich literally vegetate on the backs of masses of very poor and very low-paid people," said Mira Radeva, sociologist and the head of Institute for Social Surveys and Marketing (ISSM).
    More than two million people have left Bulgaria since the fall of communism, bringing the population down to 7.3 million. Those who find jobs earn an average monthly wage of 400 euros ($520) - less than the minimum in Spain or Greece - yet 70 percent of students are considering leaving if they get a job offer abroad, according to accounting firm Deloitte.
    "Our society moves from one manipulation to another which only serves the interests of a very small elite of oligarchs. I think that most of the recent scandals are orchestrated by this economic elite. Feeling of desperation is being consciously spread among people: that there is no perspective, that everyone (in power) is a scoundrel, that we have no choice and this was obvious during the last two months of (election) campaigning which followed the protests," Radeva added.
    Surveys carried out by by the ISSM show that GERB will lead the polls, followed by the Socialist coalition, but none of them will have enough votes to form the government. Movement for Rights and Freedoms (party of ethnic Turks) is also expected to enter the parliament, while the new party of former European Commissioner Meglena Kuneva - "Bulgaria for Citizens Movement" will be on the verge.
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