site.btaContinue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria Blames GERB for Using Protests to Sabotage Sofia Mayor

What is happening in the capital's public transport is sabotage, said Continue the Change - Democratic Bulgaria (CC-DB) on Friday. In the National Assembly, MPs Lena Borislavova, Bozhidar Bozhanov and Stela Nikolova, Sofia Municipal Council Chair Tsvetomir Petrov and CC-DB municipal councillor Boyko Dimitrov gave a joint briefing on the surface transport protest in Sofia. 

"What is happening with the capital's public transport is clearly sabotage," said Bozhanov. "Even the private carrier's depots are blocked, preventing it from serving Sofia's citizens. [GERB Leader Boyko] Borissov should not pretend he had nothing to do with this. This sabotage is also political," he added. 

Earlier on Friday, Borissov described as "absurd" the claims that GERB was behind the protest of the surface transport employees in Sofia.

"Every day Sofia Municipality loses at least BGN 550,000 from unsold documents. The fact that they are trying to sabotage the capital's Мayor is a purely political move and we should condemn it. We are not against the pay increase for drivers," Bozhanov said. Public transport employees are being used to create "hell for citizens" who actually pay the wages, the MP added. 

Borislavova said that GERB is punishing Sofia's residents for not voting for them in the last local elections. "It is not right for Borissov to punish Sofia residents because they do not like him. It does him no honour to pretend that he does not know the organisers of this political protest. There is a punitive action against the Sofia residents, against citizens who use public transport, against children who have to go to final exams next week," she added.

GERB are not happy that they are not running the capital, and are trying to punish the Sofia residents, Lena Borislavova said of the warning that garbage collection in eight metropolitan boroughs could stop from May 19.

"We will not stop until we solve this problem," Petrov said. "We stand firmly behind the Mayor. Solving this problem must not come at the expense of all the other priorities we have set for ourselves. I hope the workers will act as reasonably as possible because the protest they are making is against the people of Sofia, not so much against us," he said.

Municipal transport operators lose almost a million BGN every day, Dimitrov said. Mayor Vassil Terziev proposed BGN 100 to all plus up to BGN 300 to drivers, so there is a proposal, but it is not accepted by the trade unions, he said.

Cities where GERB does not rule are under attack, argued Nikolova.