site.btaSocialist Party Holds Protect March in Sofia to Mark Labour Day

Sofia, May 1 (BTA) - The Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) on Tuesday held a march and a rally to mark Labour Day and protest against corruption and poverty. Thousands from across the country marched from Alexander Nevsky Square to the building of the Council of Ministers. The rally opened to the anthems of Bulgaria and the EU and ended with the Internationale. Speakers called for snap parliamentary elections to oust the ruling GERB from power.

Protesters carried slogans, which read "Higher wages - normal life", "Peace, not War", "Quality Education is a Right for Every Bulgarian", "1.6 Bulgarians Live Below Poverty Threshold".

The crowd also chanted "Resignation" and "Mafia" outside the buildings of the Energy and Water Regulatory Commission and the Council of Ministers.

Addressing the rally, BSP leader Kornelia Ninova said that 3 per cent of all mankind possess 97 per cent of the world's riches. "Corporations are getting richer and peoples are getting poorer. With their riches corporations buy politicians who provide new riches for them. For these people the only value is money. There is no ideology, principles, politics and moral."

She urged people to heed to a call by President Rumen Radev "to turn on the lights on the parallel state and the shady side of government." She added that the real face of the government was riddled with theft and corruption.

"Some 1.5 million people live below the poverty line, and 400,000 receive less than the minimum wage. Four million people drew less than the average wage but we have another 61 millionaires in a year," said the socialist leader.

Ninova urged the incumbent to give up their privileges and the high salaries which increase every year.

President Rumen Radev posted a congratulatory message on Facebook. "In many regions and many professions in Bulgaria labour is undervalued. I would like to congratulate the people who stand by the right to decent working conditions and just pay. A society where the road to success doesnТt go through labour and creation but through corruption and clientelism is doomed to a permanent crisis and disappointment," he said.

In a message on the occasion of Labour Day, Labour Minister Bisser Petkov recalled
that the government's priority is to increase incomes through employment and greater labour productivity. "A year into our term, we are firmly set on our path to fulfilling our aim despite the difficulties," he wrote.

He recalled Eurostat data that Bulgaria ranks first in the EU in terms of employment growth. In addition, in the past quarter labour productivity grew by 3.8 per cent.

The efforts of the government create a predictable and secure business environment which is reflected in the general growth of wages in Bulgaria.

Plamen Dimitrov, leader of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria, criticized sharply the large capital. "We know that the poverty and suffering are still too high but with the joint efforts of the trade unions, the employers and the government with every single day our future is a little more predictable and the state a little fairer. We should muster the courage to stand together against the interests of the monopolies and of the large capital and champion the interests of the working people which are neglected now."