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Poland The Mazowiecki Government
Although Jaruzelski had won the presidency, Solidarity
was
not willing to concede the leadership of the new
government to
the PZPR. Jaruzelski's choice for the position of prime
minister,
General Czeslaw Kiszczak, had won respect for his
flexibility as
the primary government representative during the round
table
talks. Kiszczak received the necessary simple majority of
Sejm
seats by the narrowest of margins. But repeated failures
to form
a coalition government forced the PZPR to face the reality
of its
diminished power. After consulting with Moscow, Jaruzelski
nominated Tadeusz Mazowiecki, a respected intellectual and
longtime Solidarity adviser, to become the first noncommunist
Polish
prime minister since 1944.
The coalition government gave representation to all of
the
primary political forces extant in August 1989. To secure
Mazowiecki's nomination, Solidarity leader Lech Walesa had
assured Jaruzelski that the PZPR would continue to control
the
key ministries of national defense and internal affairs.
While
entrusting fourteen ministries to Solidarity, Mazowiecki
allocated four ministries to the United Peasant Party and
three
to the Democratic Party. A tone of reconciliation
characterized
the new administration. Determined not to engage in an
anticommunist witch hunt, Mazowiecki pursued an
evolutionary
program of democratic reform.
Data as of October 1992
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