Bulgarian PM Borisov Enraged by Syndicates, Allies, President

Bulgarian PM Borisov on the construction site of the National Sports Arena in Sofia; angered by criticism and deeming is bearing the brunt of misdeeds of previous governments, Borisov invited everybody to all-out elections. Photo by BGNES

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov has reacted strongly to criticism by declaring his readiness to lead his party GERB to all-out elections.

Borisov was angered by comments made by the country’s major trade unions and his allies from the Blue Coalition, as well as by a newly emerging conflict between the government and the Socialist President Georgi Parvanov over disputed Penal Code changes and senior military appointments.

“I am not to be blame for what I have received, and I will not allow anybody to put the blame on me for everything that the trade unions, the President, and all those fraudsters from the Bulgarian Socialist Party and the Blue Coalition have done in the past 20 years!,” declared the Prime Minister during his visit to the construction site of the National Sports Arena in Sofia.

“Let them protest. I will be protesting from the other side of the street because they have kept quiet over the last four years,” said Borisov when asked to comment on the statements made by the leading syndicates that their members will go on strike over the issue with accrued unused paid leaves of civil servants.

The government was initially planning to force all state employees to use up all of their paid leaves that have accrued over the years by the end of 2010. However, on Wednesday, it extended the deadline till the end of 2011, which immediately let the syndicates to soften their rhetoric.

“I have already said it – let us all go to the polls. Parvanov, resign, we will resign too, and we will meet at the polls,” stated the Prime Minister when asked about the tension with the President over the Penal Code texts and the disputable appointments of senior military officers.

He further slammed his party GERB’s allies from the right-wing Blue Coalition for suggesting that he should go to Parliament and make a commitment not to raise the VAT. Instead, Borisov reiterated his position that he will go for an increase of the VAT if he had to in order to save Bulgaria from ending up in Greece’s situation.

The PM rejected the suggestions of the Blue Coalition that he freeze the construction of the National Sports Arena and the Bulgarian Louvre museum complex in order to alleviate the budget situation. He blamed the government of Ivan Kostov (1997-2001) which belonged to the same political forces making up today’s Blue Coalition for privatizing and destroying the sports facilities in Sofia.

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