Walesa Tries to Disrupt Governing Coalition
Polish Politics in Turmoil
By Steven J. Norton

Poland’s left-leaning government survived a February shakeup which had more to do with politics than policy. Polish president Lech Walesa engineered the resignation of prime minister Waldemar Pawlak of the Peasant Party (PSL) on 7 February, accusing the coalition government of delaying reform and turning a blind eye to internal corruption. Instead of bringing on new elections, the moves have triggered a readjustment of the governing coalition in favor of the senior partner, the Left Democratic Alliance (SLD). Jozef Oleksy, a prominent member of the SLD and current speaker of the Sejm (parliament), was asked by the two parties on 13 February to form a new government. Polish and foreign observers have worried that the political stalemate would threaten the country’s continued economic recovery, after very positive results last year.

The shakeup comes after months of friction between Mr. Pawlak and Mr. Walesa, and considerable conflict within the coalition between PSL members suspicious of economic reform and SLD leaders who favor it. (See E/W Letter, no. 5, 1993, p.1.) In particular, Mr. Walesa seems to be motivated by a need to improve his poor standing in opinion polls ahead of a reelection bid later this year. The president has for months blocked nominees for the cabinet posts over which he has constitutional influence (interior, defense and foreign affairs). He also threatened to dissolve parliament because it had not passed a budget within the statutory limit, even though his refusal to sign the budget bill was the only obstacle to its becoming law....

Download the complete article: pl-pol95.pdf (50K).
Viewing this document requires Acrobat Reader version 3 or higher (this link will open a new browser window).