site.btaMRF-New Beginning Leader Shows New Photos Related to Vote-Buying in Pazardzhik Elections, Accuses Former Minister Rashkov of Lying

MRF - New Beginning leader Delyan Peevski Wednesday showed journalists new photos in connection with vote-buying in the local elections for municipal councillors in Pazardzhik (South Central Bulgaria) and accused Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria MP Boyko Rashkov of lying.

On October 30, Peevski showed photos which, according to him, depict former interior minister Boyko Rashkov shaking hands under an overhang with a man named Muharem, known by the nickname Muhata [The Fly]. Peevski claimed the photos proved Rashkov was behind citizen-led arrests of suspected vote buyers in the October 12 elections. In response, Rashkov said he had no idea who this man was and added that he had shaken hands with many people.

"Where did Rashkov say this overhang was - at the intersection in Pazardzhik, right?" asked Peevski. "Here is where the overhang actually is - in Haskovo, on Stara Planina Street," Peevski pointed out, showing photos and a map of Haskovo (Southeastern Bulgaria). "Rashkov lied again, writhing here in front of you, caught at the scene of the crime, like a worm, together with the girl in the nightgown," said Peevski. "I will expose them to the end."

"I will never again allow these people to harass our people, as they did during communism and during his [Rashkov's] tenure as interior minister. It will never happen. I am the guarantor of that. Delyan Peevski," said the leader of MRF - Neew Beginning.

MRF - New Beginning won the elections in Pazardzhik amid concerns of wide-spread vote-buying. In the incident mentioned by Peevski, a suspected vote buyer was detained in a citizens' arrest but police subsequently did not find evidence of wrong-doing.