Today's protest against the ZES legislative project were carried out peacefully and in a good mood, mediapool.bg reports. The meeting were attended by ca 300 protesters, among whom the SDS leader Martin Dimitrov.
Unlike last year, the meeting didn't create much interest in Bulgarian media, and even less in international... Borisov seem to have much bigger problems than protests in Sofia now, as his proposed Euro-commisar Rumiana Jeleva is being critizised for confict of interests.
Showing posts with label ZES. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ZES. Show all posts
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Be careful tomorrow...
The protest against the ZES legislation will be carried out tomorrow, Bulgaria e Nasha reports. The authorities, Borisov's GERB party in various incarnation have used both whip and carrot to counter to protests.
Next to allowing traffic between protesters and parliament, a move that the protesters think of as sabotage, they yesterday announced changes in the legislation. Police authorities would in the adjusted text only get access to citizens data after after a judge's decision.
The protesters do not think that this is enough, and refer to their demands - the current legislation project should be abandoned, the ministry of interior should be reformed and if new legislation is necessary, the civil society should first be consulted.
The Bulgarian civil society is far from perfect though. Behind tomorrows protest stands 38 different organisations, that are found on the protest's homepage. It seems like anyone who supported the demands on the authorities could join the protest. Among the organisations I find some that I know are key actors in the Bulgarian civil society, like Elektronna Granitza or Zelenite, but there are also some names I am disappointed to see, like Асоциация Общество и Ценности (The Associaton for society and values), who use their homepage to openly propagate against the gay parade in Sofia, and claiming that "science" says that noone is born with sexuality, and Българската национално-радикална партия (The Bulgarian National-radical party), a minor organisastion who their web space to propagate conspiracy theories about how the jews were behind the bolsjevik revolution.
I don't see how organisations who struggle for a democratic, and European Bulgaria, can allow this kind of idiots to soil their projects. What do you think would be The Bulgarian National-radical party's stance on surveillance in case they had any power? My guess is that they would start b registering jews, and then everyone who talked with jews, and then everyone who talked with someone who knows a jew...
So here are my words for those protesting tomorrow: Be careful. I don't think there will be any violence in the streets, tomorrow you are fighting to be heard in media. You are so right abut this, but, please, be more careful about who you let demonstrate with you.
Next to allowing traffic between protesters and parliament, a move that the protesters think of as sabotage, they yesterday announced changes in the legislation. Police authorities would in the adjusted text only get access to citizens data after after a judge's decision.
The protesters do not think that this is enough, and refer to their demands - the current legislation project should be abandoned, the ministry of interior should be reformed and if new legislation is necessary, the civil society should first be consulted.
The Bulgarian civil society is far from perfect though. Behind tomorrows protest stands 38 different organisations, that are found on the protest's homepage. It seems like anyone who supported the demands on the authorities could join the protest. Among the organisations I find some that I know are key actors in the Bulgarian civil society, like Elektronna Granitza or Zelenite, but there are also some names I am disappointed to see, like Асоциация Общество и Ценности (The Associaton for society and values), who use their homepage to openly propagate against the gay parade in Sofia, and claiming that "science" says that noone is born with sexuality, and Българската национално-радикална партия (The Bulgarian National-radical party), a minor organisastion who their web space to propagate conspiracy theories about how the jews were behind the bolsjevik revolution.
I don't see how organisations who struggle for a democratic, and European Bulgaria, can allow this kind of idiots to soil their projects. What do you think would be The Bulgarian National-radical party's stance on surveillance in case they had any power? My guess is that they would start b registering jews, and then everyone who talked with jews, and then everyone who talked with someone who knows a jew...
So here are my words for those protesting tomorrow: Be careful. I don't think there will be any violence in the streets, tomorrow you are fighting to be heard in media. You are so right abut this, but, please, be more careful about who you let demonstrate with you.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
14/1 2010
14 January 2009 was the date when thousand of protesters, from various Bulgarian NGO's gathered in a protest against corruption and mis-government, bigger and stronger than anything the country had seen in years.
The crowd was eventually dispersed violently, something that caused an outcry among civil activists, and helped create a movement of youth calling for a truly democratic Bulgaria, centered around the blog Bulgaria e nasha.
In the following spring, much of the energy, not least at Bulgaria e nasha, was spent at fighting the ZES legislation, that would have given the ministry of interior direct access to citizens electronical data. In the wake of the police's actions at the protest, and with the ministry of interior's history in mind, activists were very concerned about surveillance. I understand them.
Against odds, the activists won. The then ruling socialist dominated coalition did not manage to get the parliament to accept the legislation, before it was ousted and replaced by Borisovs government.
But...
Dissapointed, and more or less surprised, the activists saw how Borisovs GERB, witht the support of Ataka, could easily lead the same legislation through the parliament witout any strong opposition. The same legislation that they had vehemently been against before (at least Ataka).
Therefore, at the 14 of January 2010, a new demonstration has been announced in front of the parliament, the place that hosted not only the demonstrations one year earlier, but also the storming of the parliament in 1997 and the protest against the communist leaders in 1989. The demands are as follows:
Protests in front of the parliament has a strong symbolism, and is probably the last thing Borisov wants. So the Sofia mayor, who comes from his own GERB party, has declined to stop the movement of traffic on the square. The organisors of the protest calls this sabotage, from the mayors office it is said that a part of the square has been reserved for the protesters.
In East European politics, the capital mayors play an important role. Borisovs has managed to get full control over both Bulgaria and Sofia, which makes him unhealthy strong.
The crowd was eventually dispersed violently, something that caused an outcry among civil activists, and helped create a movement of youth calling for a truly democratic Bulgaria, centered around the blog Bulgaria e nasha.
In the following spring, much of the energy, not least at Bulgaria e nasha, was spent at fighting the ZES legislation, that would have given the ministry of interior direct access to citizens electronical data. In the wake of the police's actions at the protest, and with the ministry of interior's history in mind, activists were very concerned about surveillance. I understand them.
Against odds, the activists won. The then ruling socialist dominated coalition did not manage to get the parliament to accept the legislation, before it was ousted and replaced by Borisovs government.
But...
Dissapointed, and more or less surprised, the activists saw how Borisovs GERB, witht the support of Ataka, could easily lead the same legislation through the parliament witout any strong opposition. The same legislation that they had vehemently been against before (at least Ataka).
Therefore, at the 14 of January 2010, a new demonstration has been announced in front of the parliament, the place that hosted not only the demonstrations one year earlier, but also the storming of the parliament in 1997 and the protest against the communist leaders in 1989. The demands are as follows:
- The responsible minister should immediately ask for the cancellation of the legislative project.
- Quick and thourough measures to make the MVR a modern instution meeting European standards
- In case legslative changes are necessary, these should be done first after consulting a wide range of civil interests and experts
Protests in front of the parliament has a strong symbolism, and is probably the last thing Borisov wants. So the Sofia mayor, who comes from his own GERB party, has declined to stop the movement of traffic on the square. The organisors of the protest calls this sabotage, from the mayors office it is said that a part of the square has been reserved for the protesters.
In East European politics, the capital mayors play an important role. Borisovs has managed to get full control over both Bulgaria and Sofia, which makes him unhealthy strong.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
ZES - sagan fortsätter
The battle over ZES, the law that would give the ministry of interior direct acces to ISP's data is not over yet. The ministry will forward the law proposal again, but this time the documents will be marked "Secret". How the parliament is to discuss a secret law proposal is still to be seen...
Source: Bulgaria e nasha
Source: Bulgaria e nasha
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