Romania’s former President Ion Iliescu made a shocking statement during a TV show : the miners' movements in 1990 were a civic act.
"It was not the miners who initiated the violent actions. They were the effect and not the cause. They carried out a civic act", Illiescu said adding that he never asked the miners to come to Bucharest as “rumor has it”.
The former President labeled Romania’s current president, Traian Basescu as “an opportunist of the transition period " and said he has a military vision over life, lives with the idea that someone plots against him and blames Iliescu for his suspension.
Ion Iliescu was Romania’s first President after the revolution overthrowing Communism in 1989.
In 1990, he appealed to the miners in Valea Jiului to come to Bucharest and help him scatter the protesters who gathered in Universitate Square asking for his resignation.
The miners’ movements in Bucharest ended up with acts of violence as many people were hurt and some even died.