The government of Bulgarian Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov has resigned amid mass protests in the country, accusing him of widespread corruption.
This is reported by the Bulgarian media outlet Bgnes.
This happened before the vote on the sixth vote of no confidence, which was initiated by the opposition "We Continue Changes — Democratic Bulgaria", the second largest faction in parliament.
A vote of no confidence is a formal vote in parliament by which members of parliament express their dissatisfaction with the government or a specific minister. If the majority votes in favor, the government or specific official will be forced to resign. If against, the government remains in power.
During the break before the vote, the prime minister announced that his government was resigning because it had to fulfill the demands of citizens and support the civic energy of the protests.
On Wednesday, December 10, tens of thousands of Bulgarian citizens in over 25 cities took to the streets to protest, demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Zhelyazkov over corruption allegations and dissatisfaction with economic policy.
In general, the protests have been ongoing since December 1. The demonstrations began after the government presented the draft state budget for 2026. It included tax increases and cuts in social spending.
In particular, it was about increasing social security contributions by 2 percentage points and doubling the dividend tax to 10%, while government spending should amount to 46% of GDP. After the protests, the draft state budget was postponed.
- This is not the first time protests have swept the country — in 2020, demonstrations in the country began in July after searches of the presidential administration over two unrelated cases — corruption and disclosure of state secrets.
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