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| - Several thousand protesters gathered in Bulgaria's capital Sofia Thursday in a new showdown pressing for the resignation of the government that they accuse of corruption and using prosecutors to target political opponents. The protesters booed loudly outside the parliament building, shouting "mafia out" and "resign" as a smaller rally that started Thursday morning drew bigger crowds in the evening, continuing two months of almost daily protests. The demonstrators want to oust the cabinet of conservative Prime Minister Boyko Borisov over its perceived closeness to shady oligarchs. Chief prosecutor Ivan Geshev is also in the firing line over claims he has targeted government critics including Socialist-backed President Rumen Radev, who has backed the protests. "The country is being ruthlessly plundered, these are some of the most impudent and shameless leaders we have had in decades," electrical engineer Maria Veleva, 42, told AFP while waving a large Bulgarian flag. "I am not a regular protest-goer but I came today because I feel frustrated that Borisov never ever mentions the word 'corruption'. On the background of so many accusations and examples, he never comments but keeps boasting about building highways," translator Stefan Rusinov, 36, added. Borisov, who ended his previous two terms in office early, has repeatedly said he will finish his current mandate due to expire in March 2021. Thursday's rally, which remained incident free into the evening, came a week after nearly 200 people were hurt in clashes at another protest, where groups of football fans threw dozens of improvised explosive devices at security cordons. Anti-riot forces stepped in to disperse the protest by force and arrested 126 protesters, beating some of them and several journalists in scenes unprecedented in the Balkan country in recent years. Protest organisers and police appealed to protesters on Thursday to stay away from any provocators, and entry checkpoints were set up in the city centre checking people's bags for potentially dangerous objects. During a search early on Thursday in a public garden near parliament, police said they had found several bottles full of an inflammable liquid, wooden sticks, metal rods, bags of stones and two knives potentially prepared by people seeking to spark clashes. Thirteen years after joining the EU, Bulgaria remains its poorest and most corruption-ridden member, according to Transparency International's corruption perception index. A poll by research centre Trend published on Thursday showed that the daily protests since early July have eroded support for Borisov, with his GERB party garnering 23.8 percent support to the Socialists' 23.4 percent if elections were held now. A total of 69 percent of the 1,008 people polled said they disapproved of the work of Borisov's cabinet. ds/pvh
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