KORNITSA, Bulgaria - Bulgarian Muslims, poor, hard-working and disillusioned, voted on Sunday for an ethnic Turk party, hoping that a possible coalition with a movement led by former king Simeon II would improve their lives.
In Kornitsa near the Greek border, villagers cast their votes before hurrying to work in the fields before the sun was too high.
They voiced both scepticism about politicians and a will for change.
"They are all the same. They make plenty of promises they never keep. But I still vote, the country needs a government," said Paieta Gitseva, a 30-year-old seamstress in one of the many Greek textile plants near the border using cheap local labour.
Wearing a traditional colourful scarf and apron, she propped her shovel against a wall outside the polling station.
"The pay is low. I have to work in the field as well to get food for my children," she said.
After the collapse of communism in 1989, poverty engulfed the tobacco-growing mountain villages in southern Bulgaria. Stock-breeding is the only other meagre source of income in the area, 200 km (125 miles) south of the capital Sofia.
The region traditionally votes for Bulgaria's only Muslim party, the ethnic Turk Movement for Rights and Freedoms (MRF). Ethnic Turks comprise some 10 percent of the eight-million strong population.
The MRF has held the balance of power in five previous parliaments as the third force after the reformist Union of Democratic Forces (UDF) and the BSP Socialists, largely composed of ex-communists.
"For 11 years nothing has changed, we are marching without moving," said Yusuf Bairam, a shopkeeper.
EX-KING BRINGS HOPE
Bulgarian Muslims were victims of forced assimilation under communism. They were urged to adopt Slav names and their religious and human rights were harshly curbed. With the overthrow of communism their rights were restored, but poverty grew.
"People are so poor here, some of them buy even bread on credit. Some have not repaid their credit in years. What can I do, I see they are starving," said Bairam, who keeps his shop a afloat with meagre cash raised from tobacco-growing.
Against this background of poverty, former king Simeon II set up a new movement two months ago which has radically changed Bulgaria's political scene.
It is set to win a majority in Sunday's vote, although Simeon has not said what role will he play if it does. He ran a consultancy in Madrid before entering politics in his homeland in April.
Both Simeon and MRF leader Ahmed Dogan have said they are ready for a coalition in parliament.
"People felt trapped between the UDF and the BSP -- both did nothing to improve business in these villages. There was need for change and the king offered it," said Mustafa Getov, carrying a bucket of milk for sale.
"The king is new, and he has yet to show what he can do. All the big shots from the BSP and UDF who robbed the country and became millionaires overnight should be put in jail," he said.
"If the MRF backs Simeon, they can improve things together. I truly believe him when he says he can fix things in 800 days," said Getov, an electrical technician who earns a living growing tobacco and picking mushrooms in the forest.
12:44 06-17-01
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