Dear Mr. Borisov,

as active participants in the process for reforming of the disability policies we are genuinely surprised and deeply saddened by the hasty acceptance of the resignation submitted by Minister Biser Petkov yesterday.

Biser Petkov is the first social minister – an educated, intelligent and honorable person – to understand the difference between a medical and social approach to disability, between aimless spending of money and targeted investment in people and their social inclusion, between “nationally representative organizations” and “competent disability experts”. He opened the process of dialogue about changing the KILLING SYSTEM and expressed his determination to build a SYSTEM that supports us. It was Minister Petkov who supported our initiative for a new disability law, abandoned cosmetic and insolvent changes in the current and extremely ineffective Disability Integration Act. It was this that caused dissatisfaction among those interested – well-paid by the state, but utterly useless and sometimes harmful – by malefactors inside and outside the State Parliament who purposefully presented the presence of people with disabilities and their families in front of the official entrance of the National Assembly as a protest against the Minister . The truth is that this presence was in support of his declared readiness to reform the system and to counteract the status quo against the modernization of social policies and practices in our country.

Dear Mr. Borisov,

We insist that you return Minister Petkov’s resignation and restore his status as head of the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy. Such an action will not be a precedent in your political practice until now – only a few months ago you did exactly the same with the resignation of Minister Temenuzhka Petkova.

We also expect you to express unequivocal and categorical support for the reform efforts by Minister Petkov made until the present moment, in order to eradicate the ugliness of the SYSTEM which kills us.

Supported by:

Kapka Panayotova, Mitko Nikolov, Nina Zhisheva, Zivodar Zhishev, Nadia Deneva, Petko Stalinchev, Maria Dimitrova, Ventsislava Nikolova, Vanya Pandieva, Spaska Darranova, Lisa Bocheva, Mariana Harizanova and Ventsislav Yordanov