Romania Sanctions Rival Parties : Democracy: Opposition groups disrupted by recent violence may operate freely so long as political dispute does not turn into street battles.

As Romanians remembered the dead from December’s revolution, the government promised Friday that the opposition may operate freely so long as political rivalry does not turn into street battles.

The National Salvation Front government also said there was no sign of illegal activity on the part of the opposition Liberal Party during pro- and anti-government violence in which six people were killed last week.

The statement, six months after the uprising in which Stalinist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was executed, appeared to be a sweetener aimed at opposition and foreign critics who accuse the Front of reneging on its promises to foster democracy.

“The government is ready to grant its whole support to political and nonpolitical parties, organizations and associations whose activity was interrupted on June 13-15,” the statement said.

That was the period when riots flared after police violently quelled a protest in central Bucharest, and President Ion Iliescu deployed thousands of miners to crush the unrest, which he called an attempted fascist coup.

The West has strongly condemned the action and imposed economic sanctions, while the opposition has accused Iliescu of authoritarian tactics.

During the clashes, miners beat opposition suspects and ransacked party offices, effectively bringing opposition activities to a halt.

The government statement Friday said opposition parties are free to “resume their operation on the basis of the legal status endorsed by judicial bodies.”

“Their free and unhampered activity constitutes a guarantee for the free expression of political and civic opinions,” it said. But it warned against “street confrontations, which can turn into acts of violence.”

Friday’s statement came as Romanians in churches, roadside shrines and cemeteries prayed, lit candles or laid wreaths to remember the more than 1,000 dead in December’s uprising.

Romanians still argue whether the uprising against Ceausescu was a revolution or a Front-inspired coup.

Iliescu won a presidential election with a landslide majority May 20, and the Front scored a similar triumph in parliamentary polls, the first free vote in 53 years. The opposition parties complained of vote-rigging by the Front.

As required by law, Iliescu relinquished his role as the leader of the Front Friday to assume his presidential duties, Bucharest radio said.

Prime Minister Petre Roman, in a newspaper interview, blamed remnants of Ceausescu’s secret police for attacks on public property, which intensified last week’s violence.

In another development, one of Ceausescu’s sisters, Maria Agache, went on trial in Bucharest on charges of fraud and abuse of privilege.

Agache is the third member of the former dictator’s immediate family to go on trial since January. On Thursday, Ceausescu’s look-alike brother, also named Nicolae, was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for inciting genocide and attempted murder.

The dictator’s youngest son, Nicu, former Communist Party boss in the city of Sibiu, is being tried on similar charges, and two other Ceausescu children are imprisoned in Bucharest awaiting trial.