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Solidarity at the Crossroads
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18431 |
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CURRENT ISSUES
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9 / 1990 |
2,741 Words |
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Janusz Bugajski
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Ten years after its dramatic birth in August 1980 in the shipyards, steelyards, and coal mines of Poland's communist wasteland, Solidarity has reached a critical historical juncture. After surviving the repression of martial law and persistent official attempts to divide and discredit the union, Solidarity itself was thrust into government last year when the Communists were pressured into a new power sharing arrangement to avert a popular revolution. This Polish breakthrough in turn acted as a catalyst for the democratic revolutions that swept across Eastern Europe last fall and that continue to shake the continent's political landscape.
But with the defeat of the common enemy of communism, Solidarity has reached an important turning point. It can no longer continue as a mass movement of opposition, and its leaders and advisers cannot confine themselves simply to trade union work, as they are needed in the arising political institutions. On the other hand, Solidarity does not possess a singular political profile as it combines activists with widely diverging backgrounds, ideologies, and programs. Their long-subdued differences have now erupted to the surface; in the after-math of Marxist-Leninist uniformity, Polish politics have inevitably started to splinter and diversify.
SOLIDARITY DIVIDES
The divisions within Solidarity are not simply programmatic and ideological, but are based on strategic, tactical, and personal disputes within the emerging political elite. In the absence of entrenched democratic institutions, fully legitimate governing bodies, or mass-based political parties, Poland's young democracy will continue to be racked by power struggles and policy disputes until the next national elections. The parliamentary ballot in June 1989 was essentially a referendum against the communist system rather than a distinct choice between specific political platforms. The formation of parties, coalitions, and programs will now accelerate; but the process will not be smooth given the grave economic climate and the profound alienation and cynicism of much of the population.
Tadeusz Mazowiecki's government is preoccupied with balancing economic reform with social tranquility. Conflicts could easily erupt from fast-rising unemployment, increasing material inequalities, and falling living standards. These in turn could be manipulated by radical groups as witnessed during the Slupsk railway strike in May. Renewed turmoil could paralyze government programs and even degenerate into chaos and public revolt. It remains to be seen whether sufficient political maturity and social participation will ensure a flowering of democracy, or whether growing unrest leads to destructive conflicts and even an authoritarian turnaround to restore stability. A major point of controversy in Warsaw is how to ensure stability in the midst of structural reform. Mazowiecki's cabinet and advisers are wary of political acceleration as they wish to avoid damaging divisions and party battles. But Solidarity union chairman Lech Walesa and his entourage argue that without speedy constitutional changes, early parliamentary and presidential elections, and the encouragement of political pluralism, the public will have little stake in the new system and will not collaborate with the government's economic reforms.
The local elections in May underscored these strategic disputes and gave ammunition to both sides - the political gradualists and the
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