TURMOIL IN THE EAST BLOC : 50,000 Jeer Ruling on Communist Power : Bulgaria: ‘We all want democracy,’ the new leader says. ‘Resign,’ the crowd responds.

Up to 50,000 of Bulgaria’s newly vocal citizens jeered and whistled in the square outside the Parliament building Thursday when lawmakers decided that they could not legally repeal the Communist monopoly on power for another month.

New party chief Petar Mladenov, who has promised reform, tried to address the crowd later and was shouted down.

“We will do our best to meet the demands of the people for democracy!” he called out. The crowd responded, “We don’t want you!”

He shouted back: “We want to assure you of our responsibility for the fate of Bulgaria, that we all want democracy! If you do not believe us, this could lead us to tragedy!”

The crowd’s answer: “Resign! Resign!”

About half the crowd in the square had heeded a call to disperse from Zheliu Zhelev, an opposition leader, by the time Mladenov and other officials emerged from the building.

Zhelev asked the crowd to return today.

“We’ll be here!” they shouted.

Parliament later issued a declaration, rejecting “all attempts to pressure its decision-making process by undemocratic means,” the state news agency BTA reported.

The statement said the protesters showed “political vulgarity and intolerance” and intended to “bring disunity to the nation and to cause destabilization.”

Mladenov rose to power when Todor Zhivkov, who ran a Stalinist state for 35 years, was forced out Nov. 10. The new party leader has promised dialogue with independent groups and free elections by May.

On Wednesday the policy-making Central Committee voted to relinquish the party’s leading role, as parties elsewhere in Eastern Europe have done.

Parliament approved a Communist Party motion Thursday to discuss removing Article 1 of the constitution, which guarantees party supremacy, but members said action could not be taken immediately.

Speaker of Parliament Stanko Todorov told lawmakers that for constitutional reasons, the article in the constitution that guarantees the party’s leading role in society could not be discussed until the next session in January.

While members deliberated inside, the crowd chanted “We are here!” and “Come out! Come out!” Some formed a human chain around the building.

More protesters arrived. Deputy Speaker Atanas Dimitrov went outside and accepted a resolution from Zhelev outlining demands for reform: abolition of the party’s lock on power, talks with the opposition and free elections.

It was the same manifesto approved Sunday at a cheering, snow-swept rally of 50,000 opposition supporters in the heart of Sofia.

At the three-day meeting that ended Wednesday, the Central Committee accepted the essence of the demands.

As the protesters rallied outside Parliament on Thursday, deputy Alexander Dimitrov challenged the decision to postpone a vote on the party monopoly.

“If we are talking about a democratic society, (people will) ask what we are about if we don’t cancel Article 1,” he said. “If our electorate outside is to respect us, the first step is to cancel Article 1.”

Dozens of deputies took the floor, a new experience in a chamber where for years hands had been raised automatically to approve Zhivkov’s orders.

Membership changes also are on Parliament’s agenda, which means that Zhivkov, his son, Vladimir, and Milko Balev, a close associate, probably will lose their seats. The party expelled them Wednesday.

Lawmakers also are to consider removing clauses on anti-state activity from the penal code and passing new laws on assembly and association.

After the agenda was adopted Thursday, Speaker Todorov declared that the assembly should end its practice of voting unanimously by show of hands. “Voting without thinking” has been harmful, he said..

“The people . . . require us to do something,” Todorov told the legislators. “Questions cannot be resolved from above. . . . Power means responsibility.”

A taste of democracy was not the only thing on the crowd’s mind Thursday.

Chants of “Millionaires! Bandits! Mafia!” rose into cold air--references to allegations that Zhivkov and his friends lived luxuriously in mansions and hunting lodges.