Political Parties Continue 'Stretching Lokum' While Public Grabs At Reform

Sensing the opportunity is at hand to end years of unsatisfactory government, tens of thousands of Bulgarians marched again Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013. Protest leaders disavowed participation by existing political parties and issued an independent manifesto calling for economic and political reform.

It has been 24 years since the Soviet Union abandoned Bulgaria and more and more people are finally tired of being told that there are problems with potholes or problems with politics because the Soviets did not leave an instruction manual.

Sunday's massive, peaceful promenades in Sofia and throughout the country united people with highly diverse social viewpoints and ethnic heritage. The confluence of sentiment and action is in stark contrast to the balkanizing rhetoric from existing parties and candidates who were unprepared for early, broadly-contested elections.

STRETCHING LOKUM: TALKING NONSENSE

The polite translation of the Bulgarian term "Stretching Lokum" is talking nonsense. (Lokum is a chewy candy often called Bulgarian or Turkish taffy.) Since the government fell last week, demagogues have continued "Stretching Lokum" with no self-awareness that Google Search and enterprising journalists provide an easy reality check.

The resigning prime minister said foreign intelligence services reported his assassination was being plotted by an opposition politician. The head of the Bulgarian intelligence service said this is not true. Police in the Black Sea resort of Varna said a man who set himself on fire did not do so as part of last week's demonstrations, defusing a potential escalation in protests. Now prosecutors say evidence was suppressed of his definite intent to protest the regime.

The office of the prime minister issued statements claiming he had received telephone calls of support from UK Prime Minister David Cameron and UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon. Offices of both leaders quickly denied this.

POTENTIAL CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION

Bulgarians share the revulsion with politics-as-usual and politicians-as-usual that has been triggered in Greece, Italy and elsewhere. The parliamentary model practiced in Bulgaria and much of the world provides, of course, a no-confidence vote or cabinet resignation as the natural way to replace an unpopular government.

Here demonstrations continue beyond the fall of the governing party and many demand a constitutional convention, suggesting a lack of trust in anyone who might be elected under the present system. Bulgarians seek reforms that would protect and benefit the individual in ways that are hard to guarantee even in many first-world countries.