Bulgarian Party Gives Up Control : Communists Renounce Leading Role, Oust Former Leader

The ruling Communist Party in Bulgaria, responding to increasing popular calls for change, today renounced its leading role in running the country and ousted disgraced former leader Todor Zhivkov and two former Politburo members.

The official BTA news agency said a meeting of the party’s policy-making Central Committee decided to ask the National Assembly to repeal two clauses in the constitution that empower the Communists with the “construction of an advanced socialist society.”

“The Bulgarian Communist Party renounces its leading role in society and state,” BTA said.

Earlier, the Central Committee decided to expel Zhivkov, along with his son Vladimir and Milko Balev, who were widely regarded as close Zhivkov allies and architects of his hard-line policies, the news agency said.

The announcements came on the third day of the Central Committee meeting in Sofia that has convened under new leader Petar Mladenov to discuss its response to further calls for democracy.

Bulgaria’s ruling Communists, eager not to lag behind in the whirlwind of change sweeping Eastern Europe, followed similar moves by East Germany and Czechoslovakia in voting themselves out of power.

BTA said the proposal to repeal the two clauses of the constitution will be put to the Communist-dominated National Assembly at a session Thursday.

The two clauses read: “The Bulgarian Communist Party is the leading force in society and in the state” and “The Bulgarian Communist Party heads the construction of an advanced socialist society in the People’s Republic of Bulgaria in close cooperation with the Bulgarian Agrarian Party.”

With today’s dismissal, Zhivkov, who ruled Bulgaria for 35 years, loses all authority in the Communist Party. Ousted as party leader and head of state last month, he was expelled from the Central Committee in a second party clean-out last week.

His 37-year old son Vladimir was responsible for the party’s Culture Department. He and Balev were jettisoned from the Politburo in the November purge.

Western diplomats in Sofia said the fact that the Zhivkovs and Balev had now been expelled from the party means they could go on trial.