SOFIA: Bulgarian parliament has approved the resignation of the coalition government of Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov amid nationwide anti-corruption protests, and weeks ahead of the country’s scheduled euro zone entry.
Protesters, many of them young Bulgarians, have been protesting in the tens of thousands across the nation for weeks.
The direct trigger was a proposed budget for next year that would have increased taxes and social security contributions to finance more state spending.
The deeper cause, however, was rising anger over a perception of widespread corruption among the political elite and a sense that justice does not prevail for ordinary citizens.
The protests and the fall of the ninth government in five years underscored Bulgaria’s political instability.
