NID: ROMANIA: CHALLENGES TO RULING FRONT MOUNTING

• Document Type: SPECIALCOLLECTION
• Collection: The Collapse of Communism in Eastern Europe: A 30-Year Legacy
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 06826858
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: November 26, 2019
• Document Release Date: December 10, 2019
• Publication Date: January 27, 1990

Approved for Release: 2019/10/29 C06826858
I 171 I�I
Li
ROMANIA: Challenges to Ruling Front Mounting
The National Salvation Front (FSN) no longer can disguise its lack
of credibility and internal divisions; it appears headed for a major
confrontation with anxious, angry opposition groups this weekend,
both at the roundtable talks that begin today and at the demonstrations
called by the major parties for tomorrow. After several protests
against the Front's decision to run in the May general election.
President Iliescu acknowledged Thursday that the political situation
is unstable, warning that anarchy would result if the provisional
government were to collapse. Several leading FSN members.
including Vice President Mazilu, have resigned this week, and the
government appears to be losing control over some local governments,
including the western city of Tirnisoara where the anti-Ceausescu
uprising started.
Comment: Just a month after seizing power, the Front is struggling
to hold on in the face of increasing pressure from anti-Communist
opposition groups, students, and workers. Unable to shake off
suspicions that it is hijacking the popular revolution, the self-
appointed leadership has tightened restrictions on demonstrations�
but 600 were able to protest without incident in central Bucharest last
night�and is seeking to exploit latent fears of possible anarchy and
Hungarian irredentism in Transylvania.
NR Record
9
-171TS:1 ICS
�
ICS 2722/90
27 January 1990
Approved for Release: 2019/10/29 C06826858