1988. szeptember (209-245. szám) / HU_BFL_XIV_47_2
í j FARIAM /j IfctóS @«í Editor: György Krassó * 24/D Little Russell Street * London, WC1A 2HN » Tel. 01-430 2126 (from abroad 441-430 2126) 24.5/1988 (E) 30th September, 1988 The YDA’s First National Congress Starts Tomorrow Moming Six months after its formation the Young Democrats Alliance - YDA - will open its first national congress on October Ist at 9 am in the Jurta Theatre. There will be inuch to discuss. During the last six months the history of the YDA, which has broken the monopoly of the Young Communist League (KISZ), has been characterised by a con- tinuous struggle fór survival and a visible increase in its popularity. Within the first week of its formation five of its members were issued police warnings accused of "preparing to establish an unlawful organisation", they were then threatened with criminal proceedings by the department dealing with anti-state activities in the City Attomey General’s Office. The ÍDA was attacked by the press both directly and in- directly as well as by Károly Grősz, the police condncted house and body searches and confiscated publicity matériái. Recently, on Tuesday September 27th, a speaker in the Party’s Central Committee meeting accused them of harbouring hostile ambitions. However the young democrats could nőt be intimidated or diverted from their chosen path and since their formation they have enjoyed a series of successes. In April the YDA had already convinced delegates from the Veszprém Higher Education Youth Parliament that there was need fór altemative political youth organisations. An increasing number of people attended the YDA’s regular meetings which, due to lack of space, were mainly held in the Bakony Restaurant in Buda. On May 14th about 500 people took part in their last big meeting before the summer recess in the Jurta Theatre. YDA members bearing banners and slogans were present at the protest in May against the Bos-Nagymaros dam, in June at the demonstration condemning the destruction of Románián villages and at the 1956 commemoration which provoked such police brutality. Tvo famous film directors made a film about the YDA, the first in a series of videó news reels entitied "Black Box", which was shown at the "Szárszó 88" conference where YDA members organised several hours of exciting debate and attracted new followers. In August one of its spokespeople Gábor Fodor managed to speak on a Kossuth Rádió programme entitied "At First Hand" and at the beginning of September the Minister of State Imre Pozsgay received five of them in the Parliament. The summer months were spent developing the organisation and now the YDA has already organised groups in a number of provinciái towns, in Szeged, Szombathely, Zalaegerszeg, Debrecen, Gödöllő, Sopron and in Pécs. In Budapest, apart from the great number of university branches, worker’s groups, women’s groups, tradition preserving and secon- dary school groups alsó operate. The YDA alsó publishes a paper and has an office. The two-day conference which begins tomorrow, and will probably continue in the middle of November, will discuss the organisation’s activity up until now and will debate and vote on the füles of its operation and organisation and its programme. The YDA is ready to actively participate in political life this Autumn. The Hungárián Democratic Fórum wrote in April that "The YDA’s formation and the an- ouncement of its intention to operate within the constitutional framework is the most significant and clearest reform event of recent times." The activities of young democrats up until now are proof that the Hungárián Democratic Fórum did nőt exaggerate. . Subscribers can use or quote the Hungárián October newsletters in totál or in detail as long as the source is acknowledged.
