People power to dethrone monarch premier

Date: 21/04/05

Bulgaria's monarch-turned-prime minister Simeon Saxe-Coburg faces an uphill struggle to remain in office after a general election in June.

Opinion polls suggest that his centre-right National Movement for Simeon II (NMSII) is making some headway in winning back its hitherto wavering supporters. In December 2003, its level of support plummeted to just 6%. By last month this had risen to 14%.

But further gains in popularity will be needed if it is to ward off a strong challenge from the opposition Socialists, whose level of support is around 25%.

While many Bulgarians continue to refer affectionately to Saxe-Coburg as 'the King', the 67-year-old's government has been mired in several controversies. Anti-corruption group Transparency International has recently raised allegations of severe mismanagement of public funds for a motorway project. Losses resulting to the taxpayer could be as high as €700 million.

The government has also resisted pressure to tighten up Bulgaria's notoriously lax regulations on financing of political parties. President Georgi Purvanov has excoriated the government for not banning anonymous donations to parties and not setting up an independent body to oversee party finances.

Sounding a populist note, the NMSII is promising that it will introduce just two rates of income tax if returned to government. The top rate will fall from 26% to 19%. Low- and middle-wage earners would be taxed at 9%.

The International Monetary Fund, which oversees economic reforms in Bulgaria and has been pressing for ascetic budgets, has voiced concerns about proposals for social expenditure unveiled by the premier. The pledges include the partial repayment by the state of loans to young families.

Bulgaria is one of several staunch US allies to have reconsidered its involvement in Iraq under public pressure. The Sofia government recently announced it was to remove its troops from Iraq by the end of this year and more immediately to cut the size of its contingent there from 500 to 400. More than 70% of Bulgarians are opposed to continuing the deployment of their soldiers in Iraq, according to opinion poll results published in March.

Bulgaria: key facts and figures

• Surface area: 110,994 square km
• Capital: Sofia
• Population: 7.8 million
• Population growth rate: -0.92%
• President: Georgi Purvanov
• Prime Minister: Simeon Saxe-Coburg
• Life expectancy: 67 years (men), 75 years (women)
• Religions: Orthodox Christianity (83%), Muslim (13%), Catholic, Protestant and other (4%)
• Currency: lev
• Income per head: h 2,260 (2003)
• Main economic activities: agriculture (11.4%),

manufacturing industry (30%), services (58.6%)

• Main exports: clothing, footwear, steel and iron, plastics, tobacco, chemicals
• Main export destinations: Italy, Germany, Greece, Turkey, France

Sources: BBC, CIA Factbook, European Commission

Preview of Bulgaria's general elections in June 2005.

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