On the night of 8 December 1990, around 300 students began what would later be called the Student Movement of the 1990s. Organized, they marched from the Student City toward the center of Tirana.
Their march was stopped midway between their campus and Tirana’s main boulevard. Their ranks had been growing minute by minute, and the crowd had reached about one thousand people.
Despite the presence of police forces, the students did not stop, causing the Student Movement to expand in the following days.
The next day, on 9 December, the students formally presented their demands to the then-president, Ramiz Alia, calling in general terms for political pluralism, freedom of speech, and accelerated democratic reforms.
The protests continued until the evening of 11 December, when during a meeting with Ramiz Alia, political pluralism was confirmed. This was announced immediately after returning from the meeting, and preparations began for the founding of the Democratic Party.
The Student Movement continued with further organization and protests in the early days of 1991, leading up to the hunger strike and culminating at midday on 20 February 1991, when students, supported by professors and many citizens of Tirana, gathered in Skanderbeg Square and finally brought down the communist system.
