Bulgarians Rally Against Government Second Week

Hundreds of Bulgarians demanded economic and social reforms in the face of a global slowdown on Wednesday in a second week of anti-government protests.

Students, teachers, green activists, doctors and public servants took part in the rally in front of parliament in the capital Sofia, calling on the Socialist-led government to take action or step down. Many shouted "Mafia" and "Resign".

The Balkan country has been hit by a wave of protests as Bulgarians say they are fed up with life in the European Union's poorest and most corrupt nation.

"I want this government to go because it leads Bulgaria to yet another catastrophe," said Slavi Nikolov, 51, a freelancer in the medical sector. "The government has no potential, it is corrupt."

Last week, a peaceful anti-government demonstration turned into a riot when hundreds of protesters clashed with police, smashed windows and damaged cars in Sofia.

Popular discontent over the impact of the global financial crisis has contributed to violent protests in several other European countries, including Latvia, Lithuania, Iceland and Greece, which saw a wave of riots in December.

On Wednesday, protesters in Sofia demanded long-delayed reforms in health care and education as well as measures to cushion the effect of the global slowdown.

ECONOMIC CRISIS

The economic crisis is likely to erase the gains from the past decade as Bulgaria's main exports market, the EU, has plunged into a recession.

Trade unions say some 50,000 people are likely to lose their jobs and analysts forecast growth will drop below 2 percent in 2009 from over 6 percent annually in the past years.

A 15-day cut in Russian gas supplies over a Moscow-Kiev gas price dispute has exacerbated the situation, forcing dozens of businesses to shut down.

Popular anger is also directed at the government's failure to tame chronic corruption. Last year, Brussels froze hundreds of millions in EU aid over fraud and Transparency International said Bulgaria was the bloc's most corrupt nation.

Organisers plan more protests in the coming weeks but observers say the coalition government is not likely to fall before this summer's parliamentary election as it has an overwhelming majority in the chamber.