BULGARIANS OPPOSE MINORITY REPRESENTATIVES IN GOVERNING STRUCTURES, SURVEY SAYS

09:09 Wed 31 May 2006

The majority of Bulgarians are unwilling to see representatives of minority ethnic groups within ruling institutions.

Yesterday the head of the committee against discrimination Kemal Eiup presented the results of opinion survey during a roundtable discussion on state policies guaranteeing equality, Novinar newspaper reported.

Nearly 64 per cent of the people polled said it was inappropriate for Roma or people of Turkish origin to be elected as mayors.

The poll also shows 17.2 per cent of the children of Roma origin do not attend school. None of the Roma polled said their children spoke foreign languages.

Only five per cent of the Roma representatives are computer-literate. Among Turkish minorities the percentage increases to 25 per cent.

Eiup said Bulgaria still needs to develop more efficient anti-discrimination policies. Such specific measures should not be seen as discrimination against the majority, Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF) member Liutvi Mestan said.

Comments

Comments by Helaine - 05:13 21 Sep 2006
	If Bulgaria is to be a true democracy or republic, all residents, even the minorities must be represented. They have rights too.