a foreign trade bank to be opened in the city. The text also expressed a hope that members of the Romanian diaspora who had left the country under the Communist regime were to return to their homeland and contribute to the society, and set itself against the portion of the public "who, instigated by obscure forces, abused the returned exiles". A similar call for solidarity was expressed in regard to ethnic relations (the document stated opposition to all forms of "chauvinism", depicting Timișoara as the paramount representative of "the spirit of tolerance and mutual respect, the sole principles reigning in the future European House"), and a multi-party system based on free elections was endorsed, with the exclusion of "extremist [parties], be they leftist or rightist". The document also proposed that the Romanian Communist Party had failed to meet the criteria for participation in Romanian politics, having "discredited itself by degenerating into red fascism". In its 7th Point, the Proclamation indicated that activists of the Communist Party had displayed "cowardice" as early as 1979, by refusing to join Constantin Pîrvulescu in open disobedience to Ceaușescu. The 6th point condemned "prejudice" and "manipulation" against the emerging opposition parties (specifically, the historical National Peasants' Party and National Liberals), citing examples where the "groups interested in resuscitating communism" had incited public sentiment with slogans of reportedly Stalinist inspiration. Neumann attributed several of the radical social and economic goals, as well as the moral discourse associated with the 8th Point requirements, to the authors' awareness of Marxist theories (for a certain period, George Şerban had taught Marxism at the Timișoara Polytechnic University). While commending the document for thus identifying and radically condemning Communist practices, he expressed his personal opposition to the 8th Point, which he believed to be rooted in "Marxist historicism" and attempting to impose a "moral code" in "situations [that] call for a series of compromises". A final demand regarded proposals that December 22, the date of revolutionary victory in Bucharest, be proclaimed the national holiday of Romania. The text argued against such a move, and, citing the example of Bastille Day in France, proposed December 16, when revolution broke in Timișoara, as the moment of celebration. Eventually, the 1991 Constitution enforced an unrelated event, Union Day (December 1), as the legal holiday. Aftermath Authors have attributed the limited success of the Proclamation movement to both resistance from surviving Communist structures and the