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Poland Confederation for an Independent Poland
Founded in 1979 by military historian Leszek Moczulski,
the
Confederation for Independent Poland (Konfederacja Polski
Niepodleglej--KPN) claimed with some justification to be
the
first true opposition party of the communist era. Years
before
the emergence of Solidarity, Moczulski was defying the
authorities with calls for the restoration of Polish
sovereignty
and the replacement of the communist system; he was
imprisoned
repeatedly from the late 1970s through the mid-1980s. The
KPN did
not participate in the talks leading to the Round Table
Agreement
and refused to compromise with the PZPR.
Because of its reputation for radicalism and violence,
the
KPN fared poorly in its first electoral tests: the
parliamentary
elections of 1989, the local elections of May 1990, and
the
presidential election in the autumn of 1990. But by 1991
Polish
voters had grown disenchanted with the seeming impotence
of the
postcommunist political establishment in the face of the
country's worsening economic problems. As a result, the
KPN was
among the extremist groups and individuals that fared well
in the
1991 parliamentary elections. The KPN won forty-six seats
in the
Sejm, two more than the mainstream Center Alliance.
Following its success in the parliamentary elections,
the KPN
sought to moderate its image by joining four center-right
parties
in a coalition supporting the candidacy of Jan Olszewski
as prime
minister. Moczulski took the KPN out of the short-lived
coalition, however, when Olszewski failed to name him
minister of
national defense. Outraged at the government's charges
that
Moczulski had been a collaborator with the communist
secret
service, the KPN voted for Olszewski's removal in June
1992. The
KPN then withdrew its initial support of Pawlak as
Olszewski's
replacement. The seven-party alliance in support of
Suchocka in
mid-1992 seemingly ended the KPN's participation in
coalition
politics and returned it to the role of the uncompromising
outsider.
Data as of October 1992
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