NID: BULGARIA: PROTESTS ACCELERATING REFORM

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: The Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe: A 30-Year Legacy
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06826826
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 26, 2019
• Document Release Date: December 10, 2019
• Publication Date: December 15, 1989

Approved for Release: 2019/10/29 C06826826
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BULGARIA: Protests Accelerating Reform
Delay in the National Assembly is intensifying public pressure to
accelerate the reform process.
In postponing the vote on the article guaranteeing the Communist
Party's leading role, the legislature cited a constitutional requirement
to submit such measures a month in advance. The decision brought
more than 20.000 people to the parliament building. shouting. "We
are here, come on out." General Secretary Mladenov and several
legislators did and were booed and hissed whin they encouraged the
crowd to go home. The Assembly then condemned the protest and
vowed not to bow to protesters demands, warning that they would
be held responsible if attempts at destabilization continue. The
legislature yesterday actually rejected decrees submitted by the
State Council for the first time ever and continued its session late
into the night because of lengthy debates.
Mladenov is also under pressure from more radical members of the
party leadership to increase the pace of reform. Western press reports
say he threatened to resign at the Central Committee plenum that
ended Wednesday in response to increasing radical criticism. Purges
of hardliners have begun in the provinces, and Mladenov indicated
this week that the municipal and regional pally organizations are to
be purged before the party congress begins in March.
Comment: Public anger augurs massive protests if the regime ignores
popular demands for reform. Protests tomorrow probably will be
large even if the Assembly reverses its decision on the constitution.
Fissures in the regime between reformers and more moderate and
orthodox figures are likely to widen. The reformers, apparently led
by Politburo and Secretariat members Aleksander Lilov and Andrey
Lukanov, seem to be gaining strength and will use public pressure to
push Mladenov aside if he is seen as undermining party efforts to stay
ahead of the reform process.
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TCS 2990/89
4 5 December 1989
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Approved for Release: 2019/10/29 C06826826