Bulgarians will go to the polls for the eighth time in five years later this month, after a massive wave of protests brought down Prime Minister Rosen Zhelyazkov’s right-wing coalition at the end of last year. Demonstrations broke out in November in response to the proposed 2026 budget, which sought to hike social security contributions and taxes, increase salaries for the police, defence agencies and judiciary while leaving rank-and-file administrative workers, teachers and hospital staff with pay rises hardly covering inflation. The budget was also the first to be denominated in euros, Bulgaria having been approved to join the Eurozone last year, which inflamed popular anxiety about inflation. The protests peaked on 10 December, when more than 50,000 people took to the streets of Sofia, with tens of thousands more turning out across almost all regional cities. The next day Zhelyazkov – having been in power for less than a year – announced his resignation on live television, minutes before a scheduled parliamentary vote of confidence.
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