THE mausoleum of the Bulgarian communist leader, Georgi Dimitrov, is a tawdry concrete imitation of the Lenin Mausoleum in Moscow. It is unoccupied now, Dimitrov having been given a decent burial, and weeds grow among the tribunes where the party leaders once reviewed the May Day parades.
In the current wave of protests the mausoleum has found a new purpose for Sofia's students, who stand where the leaders once stood and review the anti government marches.
Yesterday less than an hour after the caretaker Prime Minister, Mr Zhan Videnov, announced that Bulgaria was officially bankrupt, the parade was suitably reviewed by the Grim Reaper complete with death's head face, scythe and flowing black robes.
The letters IMF were not painted to the scythe's blade but had they been it would have been extremely appropriate, for the International Monetary Fund is now likely to take control of the Bulgarian economy.
Not an organisation noted for being kind to old ladies, although some of its leading members are believed to have mothers, the IMF and its policies are likely to make life even more unbearable for the pensioners, who are demanding an end to the hardship that their monthly pensions of £9 inflicts upon them.
In a special broadcast Mr Videnov, sounding like a small boy who had been caught with his hands in the cookie jar, admitted failure and said the Bulgarian state would "soon be unable to function." Negotiations with the IMF would probably start within a week and the country's foreign reserves had fallen to $518 million, while the country faced repayments on loans of $1.3 billion in 1997.
The opposition Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) is demanding an early election, in May at the latest, while the ruling Bulgarian's Socialist Party (BSP) has offered a coalition government now and elections in December.
The outgoing president, Mr Zhelyu Zhelev, declined yesterday to grant a mandate to the BSP to form a government and in effect the political stalemate will continue at least until President elect Petar Stoyanov, a UDF supporter begins his term of office next week.
Mr Stoyanov will be inaugurated tomorrow and the opposition which has been boycotting parliament will attend the ceremony along with government members. The BSP leader, Mr Georgi Parvanov, said he hoped contact could be made during the ceremony which would lead to talks on solving the political crisis.
An indication of the gravity of the crisis is that the Bulgarian currency, the Lev, was quoted at 645 to the US dollar when I arrived here on Wednesday, while 48 hours later it had passed the 700 mark for the first time.
One newspaper reported that the large 10 Leva coins were now worth more as scrap metal than as currency. Inflation for 1996 ran at over 300 per cent and corrupt links between big business and government are rumoured to be a major influence on policy.
