Romanian Workers Rally for Regime, March on Opposition Headquarters

Tens of thousands of factory workers rallied around the National Salvation Front on Monday, chanting “We will work and back you up” in a demonstration outside the provisional government’s headquarters.

The demonstrators crowded Bucharest’s Victory Square in a counterpoint to earlier protests by opposition parties calling for the resignation of the front.

Members of the National Peasants Party and the Liberal Party fled their headquarters as thousands of people later marched on their buildings.

The leader of the National Peasants Party, Corneliu Coposu, fled in an armored car as the crowd behind screamed, “Go to the airport!”

“It is just like the (Nicolae) Ceausescu dictatorship all over again. This is not a democracy,” said opposition supporter Ion Recu.

Interim President Ion Iliescu, addressing the crowd, said the pro-government rally was a victory for the front and the nation.

“The front is not in danger,” Iliescu said. The demonstrators responded with cheers, chanting: “We will work and back you up.”

The National Salvation Front took power after the ouster and execution of dictator Ceausescu last month.

Anti-government demonstrations Sunday, sponsored by the Peasant, National Liberal and Social Democrat parties, protested the front’s decision to field candidates in free elections May 20. The opposition groups contend the front has an unfair advantage because it controls the media.

In another development, four former senior officials pleaded guilty to charges of complicity in genocide in connection with the slaying of hundreds of demonstrators in last month’s uprising.

The four--former Prime Minister Manea Manescu; Emil Bobu, a Communist Party secretary; former Interior Minister Tudor Postelnicu, and former Deputy Prime Minister Ion Dinca--face a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.