In an attempt to analyse the first day of the so-called national protest on January 14 2009, Bulgarian media, politicians, participants and onlookers alike seem to have come to one conclusion: intended as a peaceful rally, the protest was corrupted by outbursts of hooliganism that led to police brutality, and it was prematurely cut short by Sofia municipality.

Initiated by student organisations, environmentalists and trade organisations, the protest had at its base a 19-point list of demands, which called for better higher education strategy, saving of Bulgarian forests as well as other natural treasures, and adequate policies to assist farmer production, among others. But above all, it had the ambitious, however abstract, objective to inspire concrete actions against the "mafia, lawlessness and amnesia" that governed the country.

Day 1, January 14 2009: According to some reports, no more than 2000 people gathered in front of the National Assembly building on Narodno Subranie Square. Among them were university students, pensioners, environmentalists, people with disabilities and other supporters. Since the invitation to participate was extended to everybody, it seemed advantage of it had taken a group of drunken and unruly youths, most wearing insignia of the fan club of a major football team. These few, some media reports said were about 30, dubbed as the "provocateurs", were constantly trying to pick fights with the police, hurling icy snowballs, shouting obscenities, and harassing the people gathered around.

Later, some of the student leaders said that the troublemakers were pointed out to the police and had the police pressed harder to pull them out of the crowd, most of what followed next would have been prevented. Accusations were hurled at the police that it did not announce clearly and persistently that the protest was being called off by Sofia municipality. Many of the protesters did not find out until they were cornered by the police and then pushed around for no obvious reason, Dnevnik daily said.

Then about two hours after the protest was scheduled to begin at 11am, Sofia mayor Boiko Borissov issued an ordinance cancelling the event because of alleged "bomb signal", received at 9.30am. Police encircled the people on the square, advancing toward the crowd, which resulted in direct clashes with some of the hooligans. The protest branched out to the National Palace of Culture (NDK) and to Orlov Most (Eagle's Bridge), and by the end of the day reports confirmed that police had brutally attacked at random: teenagers passing by, peaceful protesters, journalists and university students. More than 150 were arrested and 12 policemen were treated for minor injuries.

Consequently, Interior Minister Mihail Mikov praised the performance of the police and the way it handled the situation. He confirmed that no bomb was found and the person who called has been identified, but no name was disclosed. According to him, adequate measures were taken for keeping the law and order. On the next day, Mikov appealed to the Parliament for support, hopeful that all MPs who have witnessed the provocations from the day before, would side with the police.

In response, the opposition called for Mikov's resignation. Ivan Kostov, leader of Democrats for a Strong Bulgaria (DSB) opposition party said that indeed there were hoodlums among the protesters who were instigating fights with the police, and therefore had to be combed out, which the police did not do. Instead, it used aggression and force on peacefully rallying citizens, Kostov has said, as quoted by Dnevnik daily. He also accused the police of acting in disorganised manner, for arresting minors and then making them sign declarations waiving their right to legal councel.

The call for Mikov's resignation was also backed by the United Democratic Forces (UDF) opposition party. Nikolai Svinarov, the former defence minister, now a MP from Bulgarian New Democracy (BND) said, as quoted by Dnevnik daily, that during the first day of the protest the parliamentary system was violated. He also commented that out-of-Parliament pressure was exersiced when that entity did not do its job as it should.

Socialist MP Tatyana Doncheva called for learning a valuable lesson after the events on January 14. "We need to learn how to protest, what we are protesting for and what are we trying to achieve. In all democratic societies the government is changed with elections," Doncheva said, as quoted by Focus news agency. She said that any protest should be based on clear objectives and means through which they could be realised.

"Why are you hiding like mice?" she turned to the opposition. She also said that some parties hid behind the anonymous organisation of the protest online. "You needed to be on the front line yesterday, instead of stitching yourselves to the back," she said, as quoted by Dnevnik daily.

Roumen Petkov, the former interior minister, was quoted by Focus news agency as saying that the protests on January 14 could not lead to early elections with such minority protesting. He praised the police work and added that "Yesterday, the state prevailed over the lumpen." However, there was a group of protesters who were victimised among which were students, policemen and journalists, Petkov said.

Finally, Prime Minister Sergei Stanishev made a statement saying that the clashes between police and provocateurs were worthy of pity. He assured that the Government would maintain dialogue and take all demands under consideration, in spite of the fact that they were quite diverse and amorphous, Focus news agency quoted him as saying. Stanishev has said that to some of the demands has been responded before the protest, without going into further details. He also praised the actions of the police calling them "highly professional".

Day 2, January 15: The second day of protest began and ended without disturbance and amid reinforced police presence. Three clearance points were set where people wishing to assemble on Narodno Subranie Square had to show IDs, had their backpacks checked as their faces were "memorised" with a camcorder. Reports said that 37 people were detained.

Instead of icy snowballs, the protesters hurled carnations at the standing policemen who, on the other hand, had their shields down. The protesters were joined by MPs from the opposition, among which was Ivan Kostov. Focus news agency quoted him as saying that they wanted to show solidarity with the protesters and confirm that the opposition has called for the Mikov's resignation. "But this does not mean that we are taking the lead of the protest," Kostov was quoted as saying.

Day 3, January 16: The third day of the protest registered even less participation than the day before, with people singing songs and dancing. Representatives of the organisers deposited in the Parliament their 19-point declaration, something that should have been done on January 14. They added one more demand: all policemen who abused their power during the first day to be penalised, and all details around the bomb signal do be disclosed for the public.

Meanwhile, the Parliament voted for Forestry Act amendments that abolished the swapping of state forests for the realisation on some dubious investment projects that has led to mass de-forestation in some regions and fostered corruption, Dnevnik daily reported. This amendment was part of the environmentalists' demands as drafted in the declaration. They have said that this was "a partial victory" and they would continue their participations in the protest. The "green" activists also demanded that the government banned construction in all protected territories until a thorough strategy for tourism development was approved.

The protest will continue for five more days.