The World - News from July 22, 1988

Bulgaria’s veteran Communist Party chief Todor Zhivkov has bolstered his position by ousting a proponent of reforms similar to those of Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev, Western diplomats said. Choudomir Alexandrov was removed from the party’s Politburo at a session of the Central Committee, which ended Wednesday. Alexandrov was one of the strongest supporters of reforms and had been widely seen as the successor to the 76-year-old Zhivkov. “It looks as if Alexandrov was too impatient with the speed of the reforms,” one Western diplomat said. Some diplomats also saw Alexandrov’s ouster as an indication that Zhivkov is not prepared to relinquish the job he has held since 1954.