Pressure Piles on Bulgaria’s Socialist Leader to Quit

Bulgarian Socialist Party leader Sergey Stanishev is facing a flood of calls for his resignation after pushing through the election of controversial media mogul Delyan Peevski for new security chief. Photo by Sofia Photo Agency

Bulgaria’s Socialist party members have launched a sign-up in a bid to topple their leader following the surprise appointment of a controversial new head of the national security agency.

Meanwhile unofficial information said that Sergey Stanishev has ruled out quitting his post over the furor that the election of controversial media mogul Delyan Peevski for new security chief triggered.

Members of the Socialist party, who claim Peevski’s nomination and election discredit gravely their formation and may even spell its death.

The Parliament voted Friday to approve the nomination of Prime Minister, Plamen Oresharski, who proposed to have Peevski, Member of the Parliament from the liberal ethnic Turkish party Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS) to lead DANS.

In a move, stunning both MPs from the opposition center-right Citizens for European Development of Bulgaria party, GERB, of former Prime Minister, Boyko Borisov, and parliamentary reporters,

Oresharski proposed at the beginning of the sitting to have a new item on the agenda – election of new DANS Director.

The request caused outraged GERB MPs to leave plenary hall.

Oresharski then proceeded to nominate Peevski.

The controversial MP was then quickly elected as the new head of the agency.

The move stirred outrage in Bulgaria, with more than 60 000 joining a Facebook page calling for protests.

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