WORLD IN BRIEF : BULGARIA : Opposition Leader Chosen as President
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From Times Staff and Wire Reports
Bulgarian lawmakers elected opposition leader Zhelyu Zhelev as the nation’s first non-Communist president in more than four decades. Thousands poured into the streets of Sofia, the capital, in a spontaneous demonstration. The election of Zhelev, 55, ended a four-week deadlock since the resignation of Petar Mladenov, a member of the ruling Communist Party, now renamed the Socialist Party. Zhelev’s elevation, with Socialist support, was seen as a commitment to pluralism by the government.
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