Bulgaria’s Leader Warns of Potential for Violence

SOFIA, Bulgaria — 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.

The opposition responded with a rally of more than 10,000 supporters in Sofia, the capital, and pledged to step up the pressure with bigger protests and strikes.

Sofia Mayor Stefan Sofiyanski demanded that the public prosecutor investigate violence during a Friday protest. Almost 100 people were injured when police forced their way through the crowd to get legislators out of the parliament building. At least 10 police had been injured earlier when protesters stormed the building.

The violence came on the fourth day of opposition-led demonstrations in Bulgaria, whose economy just had its worst year since Communist rule ended in 1989.

Zhelev, elected on an anti-Communist platform in 1992 and due to hand over office Jan. 22 to another anti-Communist, warned that the country could explode if the Socialists do not heed demands for early elections. Power in Bulgaria resides primarily in the parliament, which the Socialists control.