Bulgaria's opposition Socialists on Saturday demanded the resignation of the Conservative government at a May Day demonstration in the capital Sofia, dpa reported. Prime Minister Boyko Borissov's government claimed to have found evidence of corruption and excessive spending in the previous administration's Socialist-dominated government and is using that to justify the country's growing budget deficit and consequent austerity measures. Thousands of supporters of the former communists gathered in Sofia and other cities, including Plovniv, Varna and Burgas, to protest against the measures. Former prime minister Sergey Stanishev denounced the proposed increase in value added tax from 20 to a possible 24 per cent in front of demonstrators gathered in front of the parliament building. "The misguided economic policies of this government will drive the country to bankruptcy and the people to poverty," he said. Under the current government, which took office in 2009, citizens were subject to "repressive state machinery," Stanishev claimed, alluding to his own impending arrest, reported in local media. The government is accusing him of not handing on confidential secret service files to his successor. -- SPA
