More E. German Protests Keep Pressure for Reforms

Thousands of pro-democracy protesters took to the streets in two East German cities Saturday in continuing public pressure on the Communist government to adopt reforms.

About 30,000 reform activists protested in Plauen, the state-run news agency ADN said. It said another 6,000 marched in Greiz.

ADN said marchers in both cities carried placards demanding free elections, travel freedom and legalization of the pro-democracy group New Forum.

According to ADN, many in the Plauen march shouted, “Enough talk, we want action!”

In Greiz, ADN said many protesters carried posters showing Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev, whose reforms they support.

Also Saturday, East Germany’s new Communist leadership hinted at further steps to decriminalize escape attempts to the West, a day after tens of thousands demonstrated in at least six other cities across the nation for reforms.

Meanwhile, there were indications that several East German political parties allied with the ruling Communist Party are seeking greater independence.

Manfred Bogisch, a leader in East Germany’s Liberal Democratic Party, wrote in the party newspaper Der Morgen Saturday that a “multi-party system can only work when the political parties act and are true” to their platforms.

West Germany’s ZDF television network late Friday said it had information that the Liberal Democrats and another Communist-allied party, the Christian Democrats, want to pull out of the National Front, the union of parties under Communist dominance.

According to ZDF, the two parties want to campaign for more Parliamentary seats based on vote totals.

The calls for greater political independence came one day after the Communist government announced important concessions and after thousands took to the streets to demand reforms.

The protests in Dresden, Karl-Marx-Stadt, Senftenberg, Saalfeld, Guestrow and Grossraeschen late Friday came despite a government decision to grant an amnesty for demonstrators, for people who have left the country illegally and for thousands who were jailed for trying to escape.