Bulgaria Elections

Thousands of festive protesters streamed through central Sofia on Saturday on the 27th day of anti-government rallies to press Bulgaria's ruling Socialists to quit and hold elections. "We think that victory is very close," opposition leader Ivan Kostov told a cheering throng. Dispirited Socialists, the ex-Communists, are struggling to form a new government amid signs of internal rifts over whether to soldier on despite mass protests or call an election two years early.

This country's former Communists gave up their battle to hold on to power Tuesday, agreeing to early elections after 30 days of protests against their rule. Elated residents of the capital threw a citywide street party in celebration, dancing, honking horns and crying "Victory!" The Socialists' concession evaporated tension that had been mounting daily while the political stalemate prevented the Balkan country from handling its desperate economic problems.

A fervently anti-Communist alliance triumphed in parliamentary elections, crushing the ex-Communists blamed for the Balkan nation's economic misery. Bulgarians staged a month of peaceful protests this winter to force the early elections and oust the former Communists less than 2 1/2 years after they regained power in the former Soviet ally. The Union of Democratic Forces won 56% of the votes, according to an exit poll by Gallup International.

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.

The country could explode in violence if the ruling ex-Communists do not cede to opposition demands for early parliamentary elections, the outgoing president warned Saturday. But the Socialists--the renamed Communists--refused to budge at a meeting of the National Security Council, a body under President Zhelyu Zhelev bringing together the country's top leaders. They insisted they have a mandate from their victory in 1994 legislative elections and will not cede to the rule of the street.

Rampaging protesters trapped more than 100 legislators of Bulgaria's ruling Socialist Party inside parliament, fighting with police who finally broke through their ranks by firing warning shots and swinging clubs. Tens of thousands of people mobbed parliament to demand new elections, angered by the Socialists' inability to boost wages or to halt rocketing inflation and crime. At least 10 police officers, including one who suffered two broken legs, were hurt.

Bulgarian opposition candidate Petar Stoyanov was the clear favorite over Socialist candidate Ivan Marazov as their countrymen chose a new president Sunday. The elections were seen as a gauge of the level of public anger with crime and economic woes. With 25% of the vote counted, the official BTA news agency said Stoyanov had 61.9% of the vote to 38.1% for Marazov. Official results are expected by Wednesday.

Bulgarian opposition candidate Petar Stoyanov won Sunday's presidential election runoff with 59.73% of the vote, the electoral commission said. Stoyanov defeated Culture Minister Ivan Marazov, candidate of the governing Socialists, who polled 40.27%, according to final results.

Stefka Yanchev was plastering campaign posters on a cluttered wall the other day, but the subject of her loyalty will not appear on this weekend's presidential ballot: Bulgaria's exiled King Simeon II is barred from holding public office. "No for president, yes for the king!" declared Yanchev's posters. "We've seen what 50 years of being a republic has done for Bulgaria. A monarchy is our only hope," Yanchev, 47, said.

As an economic crisis erodes support for Bulgaria's democratic rulers, former King Simeon returned to his homeland Saturday to test the waters for a possible run for the presidency. Fifty years after the nation's Communist rulers forced him into exile at the age of 9, the former monarch was greeted at the Sofia airport by 3,000 people handing him flowers and waving flags with the royal symbols. Well-wishers chanted "Simeon" and "We want the crown!"