By Sławomir Majman
28 January 2004

Years ago, the top echelons of Poland's communist party included Andrzej Werblan; a tough man, a dogmatic post-Stalinist, an apparatchik widely disliked for his orthodoxy. And suddenly, in the Solidarity period, just after 1980, he loudly started demanding democracy and consequently was chucked out of everywhere. During martial law a well-known dissident met Werblan at one of the Western embassies, and asked him, "How is it possible that you, an old fox and old party devil, suddenly started believing that democracy was possible under communism?" Werblan replied, "No, I didn't think it was possible, but I have a granddaughter, and I thought of her reading about Poland's history one day and asking, 'What did you do for democracy, Grandpa?' So I had to do something."

Nice explanation.

Prime Minister Leszek Miller has started working for his place in history.

Malicious people are saying that's all he's got left. No other prime minister in free Poland had such negligible support. None lost so much in such a short time in the eyes of public opinion. No PM's party was ever headed for such an election defeat as Miller's Democratic Left Alliance (SLD)-as things stand today.

Miller is working for his place in history, where he wants to find himself as the man who eradicated, once and for all, any remnants of socialist, wasteful social policy from Poland's free-market economy, as a pioneer of reducing taxes and the businessmen's Hammurabi granting them a code of economic freedom. These are necessary steps that no other government ever dared take, and it's a paradox that it was a socialist prime minister who decided on a liberal revolution. But, in the short term, Miller's actions are meeting with a lack of understanding and aversion on the part of the left's traditional electorate, and to gain the support of leftist politicians there had to be some arm-twisting and sticking of pins under fingernails.

Because, people didn't elect Miller to drive a stake through the heart of the socialist system of welfare spending. People didn't elect Miller this ex-communist to offer a lofty apotheosis of his new ally and ideal, the fierce anti-socialist and economic liberal, Spain's Prime Minister José Maria Aznar.

On the other hand, no normal politician will go for a vision of unavoidable defeat and work only for history. So, resorting to unexpected tactical ploys, Miller is able to show that despite falling ratings, he is the one and only true boss in the government camp. A strong leader of the SLD and a strong prime minister. By introducing into his government as a deputy PM the narcissistic hedonist and individualist Józef Oleksy, he killed two birds with one stone. He drew into the government center its greatest critic, depriving of all hope those who had been counting on a split of the leftists, and refreshed his team's image with the Falstaffian visage of the last popular politician on the left side of the wall.

Poland has a better government than would seem from reading the Polish papers.

During its two years in power, the SLD has cured itself of socialist utopias and remnants of populism, however painful that might be for the bumbling socialists and professional defenders of the working classes. He has learned what you can do when in power, and what you simply cannot do. The prime minister is able to give the Poles a show of vigor once in a while, something they really need.

The way Miller's government undertook its independent game on the international chessboard is worthy of respect. The resolute betting on the American card has changed Poland's importance on the diplomatic scene. On the European front, Miller and his colleagues worked really hard to negotiate decent terms of EU accession, and the Polish resistance to the Franco-German dictate in the EU induced even a fierce enemy of the left, the leader of the opposition Law and Justice (PiS), Jarosław Kaczyński, to offer a pompous compliment: "You have done something worthy for Poland, gentlemen."

After years of recession, the economy has gotten off to a rapid restart, exports and production are growing, the government has employers' unanimous support, and Deputy Prime Minister Jerzy Hausner's plan for economizing is opening the door to the recovery of public finances and a lasting return to stable economic development.

However, hardly anyone in Poland today doubts that just as the government policy starts to bring results after four years, and the government stops making schoolboy mistakes, Miller's team will be removed from power in the next elections.

The prime minister and his government have a terrible reputation in Poland.

Two years in power have shown that the Polish left is infected with all the nasty diseases of power: corruption, nepotism, buddy-buddy arrangements and cynicism hidden behind a screen of pragmatism.

Hardly a week goes by without scandal, leftists being accused of corruption, the accusations inflated beyond all proportion by media unfriendly toward the left. The government camp is bleeding closer to death every day under a barrage of accusations. Though in many cases the exaggeration is pretty obvious, resulting from the media's overwhelming hostility toward the government, there's no doubt that there has been a demoralization of part of the left's leadership.

Poland in reality has a three-chamber parliament today: the Sejm, the Senate and the Investigation Commission checking out the Rywin scandal. This corruption scandal has not only demolished the government's public image, but has turned some of the commission's members into heroes of a previously anemic opposition, to mention but today's unquestioned prime-ministerial candidate Jan Rokita.

Does the pandemonium of scandals that the Poles have been witness to over the past two years mean that catastrophic corruption has occurred in Miller's Poland? I'm afraid the Poles have let themselves be driven into hysteria, persuaded that in their country, especially on the left of the political spectrum, corruption is beating world records. Corruption is an inseparable, deformed sister of politics, a fact that the French, Belgians or Italians are seeing constantly, actually on a greater scale than the Poles.

In corruption, the facts aren't really the point. Nobody can hope to convince the Poles that the government's political backup are not a gang of degenerate thieves. And that's a nail in the Miller government's coffin.

Tripping over its own mistakes, Miller's government is wading toward the end of its term.

Mistakes as horrifying as the carelessly caused nightmarish mess in the health service early in the year. The mess was the result of the government ignoring the demands of family doctors; demands that may or may not have been egotistical. Closed doors to doctors' offices will linger in voters' memories much longer than the prime minister's international successes.

The government wades on through its mistakes, governing better than it did in the beginning, always hoping that it can win back the Poles' trust, though nobody else believes it can.

Meanwhile, it's better at inscribing itself into Poland's latest history than fighting for voter support. Unluckily, this will only be noticed by the children of those who are going to the ballots in 18 months' time.


Feedback
After publishing the article "Can America Take It?" about American policy on visas for Poland's citizens (Voice # 4, Jan. 25), Sławomir Majman received a few letters from our readers in the United States.


Dear Mr. Majman,
Excellent article in last week's Voice. Your use of humor regarding Gen. Pułaski & Gen. Kościuszko and their visa problems left a smile on my face.

The sad fact that Poles still need a visa, when as you say French and Germans can travel without, must be rectified-and soon. I am e-mailing this article to several congressmen I know, in the hope that this situation may be resolved.
Once again, excellent work.
Staś Wnukowski


Great article! My father was born in Poland and served in the United States Army, as did his three brothers. All have since passed away but I am positive that they would find the US position unfair.
Charles A. Komosa,
Chicago, Illinois


Bravo!!! I applaud your article which I read online. I agree with all the points you've made. I certainly hope that President Bush will see reason when he meets with President Kwaśniewski. Poland is our best friend and we should reward such loyalty with kind consideration for the Polish people.
Janet Soltis
Livonia, Michigan

majman@brsa.com.pl

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