Violent opposition between demonstrators and the police, in Sofia on September 2, 2020. -

AFP

Opposition to the Bulgarian prime minister escalated into violence on Wednesday.

At least 55 people were injured in Sofia during clashes between opponents of Boïko Borissov and the police.

The approval of the Parliament given to the Prime Minister to launch his controversial project to rewrite the constitution crystallizes the dissatisfaction of the demonstrators.

Firecrackers, stones and bottles

After a day of tensions, clashes escalated in the Bulgarian capital during the evening, with demonstrators throwing firecrackers, stones and bottles for an hour and a half at the gendarmes who were protecting the seat of government and parliament .

Above all, the demonstrations no longer seem under control.

The organizers' appeals for calm were in fact not listened to, and the police force pushed the participants back over a large part of the square, and arrested 95 people.

It was the first day of violence since the daily anti-corruption protests began in July.

Protesters of all tendencies demand the resignation of the government and of the general prosecutor Ivan Guechev, whom they accuse of "being linked to the oligarchy".

On Wednesday, 127 out of 240 deputies agreed to the Conservative leader of the government to launch debates on the constitution, but anti-corruption activists see it only as a delaying tactic.

"Disproportionate use of force"

“Resignation!

"," Mafia!

», Chanted in front of the Parliament building thousands of demonstrators to the address of the Prime Minister.

Pepper spray and sound bombs were used for the first time in Bulgaria in the face of processions, and the NGO Helsinki Committee protested against "a disproportionate use of force", an accusation the police chief of Sofia, Georgy Hadzhiev, rejected.

Some 95 protesters have been arrested, a police official said.

The police specified that some of the arrested demonstrators were known to their services as supporters of ultra football.

The president in tune with the demonstrators

According to observers, the proposed new constitution is in fact aimed at keeping the conservatives and their nationalist allies in power until the end of their term in March 2021. The Turkish minority party MDL and the socialist opposition are there. opposites, the left seeing in it a desire to limit the powers of the President of the Republic, close to his positions.

In an internal parliamentary statement, President Roumen Radev, who supports the demands of the demonstrators, called on parliamentarians to “come out of this crisis with dignity” by doing what is necessary to pave the way for future elections.

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