50,000 Cheering Bulgarians Demand That Officials Resign

Tens of thousands of Bulgarians thronged central Sofia on Sunday to demand the resignation of top Communist Party officials, an end to the party’s monopoly on power and talks with the opposition.

About 50,000 cheering, banner-waving protesters voted unanimously for a declaration calling for the entire Central Committee of the ruling Communist Party to resign.

The committee has more than 300 members and is scheduled to meet today.

The rally ended after two hours without police intervention.

The protest came two days after new Communist leader Petar Mladenov carried out a sweeping purge of unpopular officials from top posts, a move Western diplomats said was intended to show willingness to listen to opposition views.

“From the political and moral point of view, they (Communist leaders) are worn out, and we cannot trust them,” said the declaration, read to the euphoric crowd by activist Angel Akhranov. “We are calling for the collective resignation of the Party’s Central Committee.”

“Tomorrow!” the crowd roared back.

The declaration, which will be presented to the country’s National Assembly when it meets Thursday, also demanded the scrapping of the constitutional clause that guarantees the party’s pre-eminence in the government.

“Prague, East Berlin--Sofia!” read one banner, a reference to the relinquishing of absolute power by Czechoslovak and East German Communist parties.