Bulgarian Industrial Association Calls for Snap Elections in 2014

The Bulgarian Industrial Association called for holding early parliamentary elections in the summer of 2014, simultaneously with the vote for Members of the European Parliament.

Politicians should exit the cabinet leaving only experts to run the country until new elections are held, the association said in a statement. All parties should form a social pact, and Parliament should adopt amendments to the Election Code with the participation of the citizens, according to the association.

Last week another major employer organisation, the Confederation of Employers and Industrialists in Bulgaria, urged for immediate snap elections.

In a separate development, President Rosen Plevneliev said on Monday that he has started talks with the leaders of all parliamentary forces aiming to find a solution to the ongoing crisis.

A wave of protests has swept Bulgaria since June 14, when Parliament appointed as national security chief of Delyan Peevski Peevski, a media mogul with power business interests in all spheres of the economy and no experience in the security field. Parliament’s withdrawal of Peevski’s appointment failed to appease the protesters who accuse the incumbents of serving business interests, and demand early elections.