Bulgarian Rulers Agree to Election Talks

Faced with Bulgaria’s bloodiest uprising since the end of Stalinist rule, the governing ex-Communists agreed Sunday to hold talks with opposition leaders demanding early elections.

Georgi Parvanov, the leader of the Bulgarian Socialist Party, said on state television that talks could start as early as today. He made it clear, however, that he expected his party to stay in power for at least another year to “stabilize” Bulgaria, which is undergoing its worst economic crisis since 1989.

Unsatisfied, the opposition vowed to keep up daily protests until the government sets an election date.

On Sunday, 100,000 people demonstrated in Sofia along with tens of thousands of others in cities nationwide to back the opposition’s demand for an early vote that could drive the current government from power.

Still, the government’s concession was a step forward. The crowd in Sofia cheered “Victory!” and “Elections!” when opposition leaders announced that the Socialists would consider their demands.

Frustrated that parliamentary elections aren’t due until December 1998, the opposition says the Socialists have lost the country’s trust and should face a new vote. The Socialists currently hold 125 of parliament’s 240 seats after elections held in December 1994.

The Sofia protests have been inspired in part by almost two months of largely peaceful demonstrations in neighboring Serbia, where the opposition wants the ex-Communist government of President Slobodan Milosevic to recognize opposition victories in November municipal elections.

Bulgarians elected an anti-Communist--Petar Stoyanov--as the new president. He takes office Jan. 22, but that post is largely ceremonial. Protesters want the Socialists out of parliament, which has the real power.

The demonstrations started last week when the Socialist Party insisted it would name a new prime minister without going to the polls.

Socialist Prime Minister Zhan Videnov resigned last month amid mounting criticism for his failure to resurrect Bulgaria’s economy.