Since October 7, Education Minister Daniel Vulchev and Finance Minister Plamen Oresharski have something in common with Hungarian prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsany.

In autumn 2006, Gyurcsany was caught on tape admitting that he had lied about the state of the country’s economy to win the elections. This led to a series of clashes on the streets of Budapest between police and opposition supporters. On October 7, a microphone placed in plain sight by television station bTV picked up a conversation between Vulchev and Oresharski as they were sitting with representatives of teachers’ trade unions to discuss the ongoing teachers’ strike. The cameras showed the ministers in sotto voce conversation, with Vulchev placing his hand over the main microphone. “Let’s get this sedyanka (village gossip gathering) over with. We should think about some fugues...” Oresharski told Vulchev. Vulchev’s reply was “let’s see whether it is possible to have experts talk, do some calculations, so that we can have the talk”. Oresharski: “Tomorrow the experts will do the talking. They can certainly drag on the talks.”

A broadcast of this exchange sparked a harsh reaction from the trade unions, especially because for almost two weeks discussions about teachers’ salaries had proceeded without result. On October 8, trade unions demanded the resignations of the two ministers, accusing them of cynical behaviour. In a media statement, the unions described the conversation as “a mockery of the dignity and constitutional rights of Bulgarian teachers, thousands of parents and their children and students”.

Oresharski, who was abroad, sent an open letter to the media apologising for his words. “I am truly sorry if I have hurt teachers in the course of talks on Sunday. I owe an apology to all educators if the effect of emotion during those tense talks insulted the representatives of the teaching community,” his letter said. Vulchev also regretted his words but found no guilt in them “since I have not said anything about dragging on the talks”. The two received the full support of Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev, who, on October 8, told reporters that he would not accept pressure from the unions to dismiss the ministers, just as he would never apply pressure on the trade unions about their leadership.

As in Hungary, the opposition in Bulgaria tried to exploit the scandal and the ongoing teachers’ strike. On October 8, right-wing opposition party Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria called for the resignations of Oresharski and Vulchev. The next day, another right-wing party in Parliament, the Union of Democratic Forces (UDF), said it would start talks with other opposition forces on a motion of no confidence in the Cabinet because of the state of Bulgaria’s education sector. UDF leader Plamen Yuroukov said that these talks would start after the municipal elections scheduled for October 28 in order to avoid accusations of using the strike for political ends. The talks between trade unions and Vulchev did continue, but so did the strike. By October 10, teachers were continuing to demand 25 per cent salary increases in October, January and July, while Vulchev was offering only a 32 per cent increase from January and an additional increase at some point next year. He said that there was a 502.5 million leva gap between what the Government was ready to give and what the teachers wanted. On October 9, the 12th day of the strike, trade unions said that 95 per cent of teachers and non-teaching school staff had joined in.