Over the course of a month-long demonstration in University Square, many protesters had gathered with the goal of attaining official recognition for the 8th demand of the popular Proclamation of Timișoara, which stated that communists and former communists (including President Iliescu himself) should be prevented from holding official functions. Supporters of the opposition were dissatisfied with Iliescu's first government, which was made up mostly of former communists, claiming that it implemented reforms very slowly or not at all. The protests mostly ended after Iliescu’s FSN obtained a decisive victory (over two thirds of the votes) in the May 20th elections. However, a small group decided to continue protests and staged a hunger strike. Following attempts of the authorities to clear up the University Square, where the protesters had been squatting during the previous mounts, some among the protesters grew violent and attacked the police headquarters and the national television station. When the police were unable to contain the violence, Iliescu appealed to the miners to "defend the country". Special trains transported some 10,000 miners to the capital, where the miners violently confronted anyone they saw as opposing the government.