site.btaHundreds of People Block Roads in Kyustendil Region to Protest Against Newly Elected MP

Hundreds of People Block Roads in Kyustendil Region to Protest Against Newly Elected MP

Kyustendil, Western Bulgaria, October 13 (BTA) - Hundreds of
people Monday blocked the road to the Gyueshevo border control
checkpoint at the village of Zhilentsi, Kyustendil Region. Cars,
motorcycles and tractors closed the road for traffic for about
an hour. Also on Monday, residents of Doupnitsa blocked the E-79
road for fifteen minutes.

The protest is against the MP seat won in Kyustendil by
Alexander Metodiev from the Movement for Rights and Freedoms
(MRF). He received only 864 votes in the October 5 early general
elections, but won a seat in Parliament due to the use of the
Hare/Niemeyer formula, incorporated in the Election Code.

The protest in Kyustendil began with an autocade. Speaking from
an improvised rostrum, Mayor Peter Paunov said that a new
legislative system needs to be adopted where every Bulgarian MP
is elected through majority rule and the people are encouraged
to vote. He added that he expects a declaration from all
political parties reading that they support the majority rule.

"The MRF claims that it supports the observation of
constitutional rights, the law and moral: if you are moral, we
want our complaint against the votes from Turkey to be respected
and the MP seats to be reallocated so that there can be
justice," Paunov said. He was referring to the high number of
votes the MRF got in sections abroad. "There are no MRF voters
in the Kyustendil election constituency," he added.

The protesters in Doupnitsa said that they will block the entry
to the National Assembly on the day when the new MPs will swear
in.