Bulgaria
A protestor holds the Bulgarian flag during a demonstration in central Sofia, Friday, Nov. 1, 2013, demanding the dissolution of Parliament and calling for new elections. Several hundred students, who have occupied many universities for a week, were joined on Friday by teachers in their demands for an effective nationwide strike. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
Bulgaria Protests
Blindfolded protestors shout anti-government slogans during a demonstration in central Sofia, Friday, Nov. 1, 2013, demanding the dissolution of Parliament and calling for new elections. Several hundred students, who have occupied many universities for a week, were joined on Friday by teachers in their demands for an effective nationwide strike. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
Bulgaria Protests
A dressed up protestor waves during a demonstration in central Sofia, Friday, Nov. 1, 2013, demanding the dissolution of Parliament and calling for new elections. Several hundred students, who have occupied many universities for a week, were joined on Friday by teachers in their demands for an effective nationwide strike. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
Bulgaria Protests
Blindfolded protestors shout anti-government slogans during a demonstration in central Sofia, Friday, Nov. 1, 2013, demanding the dissolution of Parliament and calling for new elections. Several hundred students, who have occupied many universities for a week, were joined on Friday by teachers in their demands for an effective nationwide strike. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
Bulgaria Protests
A blindfolded protestor plays on his trumpet during a demonstration in central Sofia, Friday, Nov. 1, 2013, demanding the dissolution of Parliament and calling for new elections. Several hundred students, who have occupied many universities for a week, were joined on Friday by teachers in their demands for an effective nationwide strike. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
Bulgaria Protests
A student wrapped in the Bulgarian flag shouts anti-government slogans during a demonstration in central Sofia, Friday, Nov. 1, 2013, demanding the dissolution of Parliament and calling for new elections. Several hundred students, who have occupied many universities for a week, were joined on Friday by teachers in their demands for an effective nationwide strike. (AP Photo/Valentina Petrova)
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SOFIA, Bulgaria (AP) — About 1,000 people are protesting in Bulgaria’s capital to demand that the government step down to make way for a special election.
Many of Friday’s demonstrators were students who held hands and made a ring around Parliament. Others, including some of the students’ teachers, blocked major intersections in central Sofia.
Riot police struggled to keep traffic moving, but no injuries were immediately reported.
For a week, students have been occupying universities, energizing a 4-month-old anti-government movement that is criticizing the government over allegations that its leaders have ties with shady businessmen.
Friday’s protesters read out a declaration saying, “There is only the appearance of democracy in Bulgaria, and the legislative and executive branches of government are controlled by cynics.”
