Bulgaria president calls May polls

Bulgaria's president yesterday called for a new political culture that would prevent citizens being "robbed" and "lied to" as he named an election date of May 12 to try to stem a surge of popular discontent.
Prime Minister Boiko Borisov quit last week after nationwide protests against high electricity prices - the final straw to many citizens in the European Union's poorest country, who have begun to despair of any improvement in living standards or governance.
While Bulgaria has avoided the debt or deficit problems of many of its peers, maintaining a currency peg to the euro, economic growth is sluggish and unemployment has risen to almost 12 percent.