1988. április (71-108. szám) / HU_BFL_XIV_47_2
í « H. W W SAIMAK 9 S ®m£ Editor: György Krassó » 24/D Little Russell Street * London, WC1A 2HN * Tel. 01-430 2126 (írom abroad 441-430 2126) 98/1988 (E) 25th April, 1988 Youth Parliament Demands The Opportunity To Establish Political Organisations In Veszprém the National Higher Education Youth Parliament came to a decision about the May 20th National Party Conference bili. They said that they vould only support the plán if they sav guarantees of overall and radical reform of the political institute systera. "This demand to change our political principles and practice is closely linked with the need fór a sweeping change in the leadership." About 200 delegates representing 66,000 day students from the sixty Higher Education institutes in the country accepted the decision after an eventful three day conference. On the first day - Friday - the police searched somé of the Budapest delegates’ rooms and confiscated 250 copies of the Young Democrats Alliance’s founding declarartion and 18 copies of a congrgtulory letter from the Hungárián Democratic Fórum. They were soon quickly replaced however and a meeting vas held on Saturday evening about the new youth organisation. One section of the decision caused a furore - the lOth clause in the section entitled "Autonomy and Internál Democracy" - , which deals with the possibility of establishing new youth organisations. Delegates from the School of Economics and the Technical College in Budapest - supported by those from the Eötvös LÓránd University - demanded the right to form youth organisations which are explicitly political in addition to the Young Communist League (YCL). The YCL started nego- tiations with them saying that they agreed and wanted the same thing bút fór so-called tactical reasons they proposed that the words "political" and YDA are left out of the debate. An agreement was reached in the Saturday moming section meeting bút in the afternoon Imre Nagy, secretary of the YCL’s Central Committee - after lengthily praising the compromise - read out the YCL’s pro- posal which suggested the formation of a Students Union, a sort of student protection of interests organisation, bút nőt of political organisations. The Budapest students thought that they had been tricked and after a long meeting on Saturday evening they introduced a modifying proposal at the Plenary meeting on Sunday: in order to prevent misunderstandings it must be clearly stated that political organisations can be formed in Higher Education institutes. The YDA is one such organisation already in existence. The YCL functionaries were highly indignant and sharply attacked the proposers accusing them of violating the agreement bút in the final vote 75% were in favour. The text of the lOth clause is as follows: 10. (a) The opportunities fór political youth organisations must be expanded. In order to support the YCL’s ambition to be a hegemonic organisation we pro- pose that other grass roots, independent political youth organisations can alsó operate. (b) Accordingly we alsó propose the modification of the Youth Law. The debate planned about the Youth Law must be held in a Youth Parliament meeting. The newspaper Nepszabadsag (Peoples Freedom) wrote of the events:"Despite the section meeting agreement somé circles intervened in the plenary meeting and mislead participants with their demagogic principles in order to form other youth and political organisations in Higher Education." The actual decision was nőt published in the papers. Subscribers can use or quote the Hungárián October newsletters in totál or in detail as long as the source is acknowledged.
