Challenge to Czech, leadership widens

Press, 22 November 1989, Page 12

Challenge to Czech, leadership widens

NZPA-Reuter Prague The challenge to Czechoslovakia’s hardline Communist leadership is widening but it shows no sign of giving in to demonstrators seeking the same political reforms emerging elsewhere in Eastern Europe. About 200,000 people took to the streets in Prague on Monday to call for its resignation in an unprecedented display of “people power.”

Demonstrations spread out to Ostrava, an industrial centre, Brno, and Olomouc and students held an indoor rally in Bratislava, the Slovak capital. The mass protest in Prague was seen as a breakthrough for activists in Czechoslovakia, where pro-reform demonstrations had rarely topped 10,000 until last Friday, when 50,000 people turned out. “We have been waiting a long time for this,” one of the marchers said.

But the leadership shows no sign of budging. A joint meeting of the Federal, Czech and Slovak Governments issued a statement approving the violent suppression by riot police of last Friday’s demonstration, which has drawn protests from official and unofficial groups. It said the action was “aimed at restoring order and protecting property and lives” and added: “They could not stand by helplessly as groups incited from abroad violated the legal order.” The Communist Party leader,

Mr Milos Jakes, had told a meeting of the CzechoslovakSoviet Friendship Society he was prepared for a dialogue but said no solution could be found “in an atmosphere of emotions, passions and anti-socialist violence.”

Mr Jakes, who organised a purge of thousands of party members after a 1968 Warsaw Pact invasion crushed the so- 1 called “Prague Spring” reforms, was one of the main targets of protesters on Monday. “Milos, it’s over,” they chanted. “We won’t let go now.” Mr Jakes yesterday was due to have received the East German leader, Mr Egon Krenz, who came to power after street protests toppled his conservative predecessor Erich Honecker. The meeting was called off as the Prague demonstration began building up. The joint Government statement on last Friday’s violence was expected to do little to improve the credibility of the leadership, under increasing attack on several fronts.

On Saturday a new reform group, Civil Forum, was founded and theatres cancelled all scheduled performances for a week to back demands for a change in the country’s rigid system.

On Monday Czechoslovakia’s two non-Communist parties, who have toed the ruling party’s line for decades, broke with it by strongly condemning Friday’s police violence.