Bitterness Reigns After Fall of Bulgarian Regime : Eastern Europe: Partisan wrangling leaves country in a state of limbo. Even the opposition is left groping for direction.

The opposition’s Pyrrhic victory in forcing the ex-Communist government out of power has deepened a sense of bitterness and disappointment among Bulgarians, who fear that the leadership change will make little difference in their destitute lives.

Socialist Prime Minister Andrei Lukanov told reporters Friday that he gave in to opposition pressure to resign in hopes of breaking a political stalemate that has allowed his country’s worst postwar economic crisis to fester.

But a parliamentary session that had been expected to name an interim prime minister bogged down in the same partisan wrangling that has thwarted reform for months, leaving this troubled Balkan nation of 9 million in a state of limbo.

President Zhelyu Zhelev planned to meet with Socialist and opposition leaders over the weekend, but no decision on a caretaker government is expected before the Grand National Assembly reconvenes Tuesday. The Parliament will then resume the search for a nonpartisan figure to govern until new elections are held in March or May, according to the official BTA news agency.

Some officials speculated that it could take weeks to name a new government in the fractious political climate that has reigned since the former Communist Party, renamed the Bulgarian Socialist Party, won a slim parliamentary majority in June elections.

Although support for the ex-Communists has clearly eroded amid worsening shortages and hardship, there is little evidence that the disillusioned voters have gone over to the side of the 16-party Union of Democratic Forces (UDF)--the second-largest political force in Parliament.

The deeply divided legislature’s inability to quickly name a successor to Lukanov served as a sobering reminder to many Bulgarians that ousting the Socialists won’t change the reality of falling production, scarce food and rationed energy.

After a night of celebration by tens of thousands of opposition activists, Sofia residents appeared deflated as they returned to work Friday after a four-day general strike that brought down the Socialist leadership.

“I don’t care who is in the government, as long as they try to improve the lives of the people,” observed Ildanka Molodova, a 75-year-old pensioner dining on canned green beans at a central Sofia cafeteria. “But I have no expectations of this new government that will be named. They are all the same.”

Shoppers and pedestrians interviewed along Sofia’s rain-drenched streets said they were fed up with politics.

“It’s been bad for so many years already that we don’t know what to hope for,” said Maria Alexandrova, a 49-year-old teacher dejectedly perusing the sparse offerings at a central supermarket. “I voted for the Socialists, but not one of their promises has been fulfilled.”

Lukanov blamed unrelenting challenges from the opposition for his government’s failure to slow the erosion of Bulgarians’ already meager living standards.

But some Socialists acknowledged that their party is also to blame.

“The government missed its chance to be effective just after the elections,” when it put off naming a Cabinet for four months in the vain hope that the opposition would agree to a coalition, said Rumen Gechev, a leading economist and Socialist Party member.

“The tragedy now is that there is no real change. If the opposition gains power, what can it do to improve the situation? Nothing,” Gechev concluded.

He and other government supporters accused the opposition of resorting to totalitarian tactics in a raw grab for power.

UDF leader Petar Baron, who has made clear he would like to emerge as Lukanov’s successor, hailed the fall of the Socialists as “the true end to communism in Bulgaria.”

Baron’s party spearheaded the demonstrations, strikes and marches that have disrupted Sofia and other major cities since the Socialists’ election victory in June. Bulgaria was the only East European state to reelect the former Communists in multi-party elections held throughout the region this year.

Lukanov accused the opposition of undemocratic sabotage of the political force that was the choice of most Bulgarians. And he predicted that his successor will face similar pressure for improvements that will be elusive.

Bulgarian industrial and agricultural production has fallen by more than 15% already this year, and the nation cannot get credit for critical food imports because it has stopped payments on its $11-billion foreign debt.

At a news conference to explain his decision to resign, Lukanov said he agreed to step down on condition that the caretaker government meets with the approval of both the Socialists and the UDF.

“I’m afraid there will be very few volunteers,” the 52-year-old ex-Communist told reporters.

“Even though I am stepping down, my economic and social program has no alternative,” Lukanov told the Grand National Assembly in his farewell speech.

Even opposition figures conceded they had brought upon themselves a daunting task.

“The big question is where to go now,” said UDF spokesman Stojan Ganev. “It’s going to be very difficult. The most important thing now is to form a government of experts.”

The Socialist-dominated parliament voted to accept Lukanov’s resignation but asked him to stay in the post until a new prime minister is chosen.

While that action ensures the retention of a figurehead for Bulgaria, Lukanov’s lame-duck image and the protracted talks on who will succeed him are likely to prevent any effective leadership in the meantime.

Political leaders had hinted on Thursday that a transition government had already been agreed to. But there was no evidence of political unity during or after the Parliament session that endorsed Lukanov’s decision to step down.

One possible successor mentioned by government and opposition sources is Ginyo Ganev, a 62-year-old parliamentary leader who commands the respect of both sides.

Ganev heads the Fatherland Union, a mass organization that was once loyal to the Communist Party but has followed a more independent course since dictator Todor Zhivkov was ousted last November after 35 years in power.