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Poland Solidarity
The breakthrough in ending the political monopoly of
the PZPR
came in 1980 with the emergence of the Interfactory Strike
Committee, which rapidly evolved into the Solidarity mass
movement of some 10 million Poles
(see The Birth of Solidarity
, ch. 1). Guided by Lech Walesa, the Interfactory Strike
Committee
won historic concessions from the communists in the Gdansk
Agreement of August 31, 1980. The PZPR granted recognition
of the
basic right of workers to establish free trade unions, but
in
return the strike committee agreed not to function as a
political
party. The workers promised to abide by the constitution
and
conceded the leading role in state affairs to the PZPR.
Despite the pledges of the Gdansk Agreement, Solidarity
did
not remain simply a trade union movement. It rapidly
changed into
an umbrella organization under which a broad range of
political
and social groups united in opposition to the communist
regime.
At Solidarity's first national congress in the fall of
1981, the
political nature of the movement became explicit. The
congress
adopted a program calling for an active Solidarity role in
reforming Poland's political and economic systems. In the
following months, outspoken radicals urged their leaders
to
confront the communist authorities, to demand free
elections, and
to call for a national referendum to replace the communist
government. The radical challenge precipitated the
imposition of
martial law on December 13, 1981. Solidarity, now illegal,
was
forced underground until the late 1980s
(see The Jaruzelski Interlude
, ch. 1). Within six months after the start of
the Round
Table talks in February 1989, Solidarity not only had
regained
its legal status as a trade union, but also had become an
effective political movement that installed Eastern
Europe's
first postcommunist government.
During its underground phase, Solidarity lost much of
its
original cohesion as tactical and philosophical
disagreements
split the movement into factions. The radical elements,
convinced
that an evolutionary approach to democratization was
impossible,
created the organization Fighting Solidarity in 1982.
Ultimately, however, Walesa's moderate faction prevailed.
Favoring negotiation and compromise with the PZPR, the
moderates
created the Citizens' Committee, which represented
Solidarity at
the talks in 1989 and engineered the overwhelming election
triumph of June 1989. Led by Bronislaw Geremek, a
prominent
intellectual, the newly elected Solidarity deputies in
parliament
formed the Citizens' Parliamentary Club to coordinate
legislative
efforts and advance the Solidarity agenda.
The stunning defeat of the PZPR in the June 1989
parliamentary elections removed Solidarity's most
important
unifying force--the common enemy. By the time of the local
elections of May 1990, Solidarity had splintered, and a
remarkable number of small parties had appeared. Because
any
individual with fifteen nominating signatures could be
placed on
the ballot, an astounding 1,140 groups and "parties"
registered
for the elections. In the local elections, the new groups'
lack
of organization and national experience caused them to
fare
poorly against the Solidarity-backed citizens' committees
that
sponsored about one-third of the candidates running for
local
office.
Despite the success of the Solidarity candidates in the
local
elections, serious divisions soon emerged within the
Citizens'
Parliamentary Club concerning the appropriateness of
political
parties at so early a stage in Poland's democratic
experiment.
The intellectuals who dominated the parliamentary club
insisted
that the proliferation of political parties would derail
efforts
to build a Western-style civil society. But deputies on
the right
of the political spectrum, feeling excluded from important
policy
decisions by the intellectuals, advocated rapid formation
of
strong alternative parties.
Data as of October 1992
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