More Violence Possible in Romania Unless Leaders Change, Official Warns

The nation’s intelligence chief warned Monday that more rioting could break out if Parliament does not quickly revamp the country’s leadership.

“We are only at the beginning of a very hot period,” said Virgil Magureanu, head of the Romanian Intelligence Service, SRI. “It cannot be said for certain that there will not be more violent attacks in the near future.”

Thousand of angry miners rioted in the capital last week demanding Prime Minister Petre Roman’s resignation, an end to spiraling prices and improved working and living conditions. The violence left three dead and more than 300 injured.

Roman, a 44-year-old technocrat, has introduced drastic reforms to try to push the formerly hard-line Communist nation into a free-market economy. His programs have resulted in skyrocketing prices--inflation stands at 170%--without significantly improving everyday life.

The last of the miners left Bucharest on Sunday. In the main mining town of Petrosani, in central Romania, miners returned to their shifts Monday.

State radio said that President Ion Iliescu accepted Roman’s resignation Friday. Parliament has not yet voted to accept the resignation, as required by law.

In an emotional television interview Sunday night, Roman said he had not resigned but rather had deferred the decision to Iliescu.

Roman called Iliescu’s acceptance of miners’ demands “a sad moment” and said he still considers himself “the leader of the National Salvation Front, the ruling party.” The front came to power after the December, 1989, revolution that ousted Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.

Roman called for new elections as soon as possible.

General elections were tentatively scheduled for mid-1992, but Deputy Prime Minister Adrian Severin said a vote could be held in two months.