Premier, Cabinet Resign in Poland : Parliamentary Panel Cites Messner’s Failure to Reform Economy

The government of Premier Zbigniew Messner resigned Monday as Poland’s Communist authorities continued their uphill struggle to win public confidence and put force into an economic reform plan that so far has been a pronounced failure.

The resignation of Messner, who had been in office for less than three years, had been predicted for weeks. An obvious casualty of the Solidarity-led labor strikes that have broken out twice in the past six months, he quit before a special meeting of the Polish Parliament.

A parliamentary commission appointed to review the government’s performance had blamed Messner’s government for failing to produce “a tangible acceleration” of the reforms, even after special powers were granted in the wake of the first wave of strikes last spring.

“Recent tensions and drastic signs of social dissatisfaction deepen doubts as to whether the government, in its present composition,” could carry on with “lost social confidence,” according to one speaker from the commission.

All 19 government ministers resigned along with Messner, the first time in postwar Poland that an entire Cabinet has stepped down.

It was not certain how soon Poland’s Communist Party would name a new government. Under the Polish system, key government figures are chosen by the party leader, Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski, and the ruling Politburo, and are officially installed by the party’s leadership in Parliament. The government’s responsibility is to carry out the policies set by the party leadership.

Acceptance by Politburo

Speaking at the parliamentary session Monday, Jaruzelski said the Politburo accepted the Parliament’s “decisive role” in evaluating the government. But such a role clearly is played by Jaruzelski and the Politburo as well. Jaruzelski has been critical of the government in recent weeks, distancing himself from Messner and calling for the commission’s inquiry into the government’s performance.

Krystyna Jandy-Jendroska, who led the special commission, also referred to upcoming round-table discussions proposed by the authorities, saying that it is necessary for the government to “expand its composition” to include economic experts who have been critical of its reform plans.

The reforms in general have been aimed at injecting market realism into Poland’s heavily subsidized state-run economy. But the initial results of the plan have been a 60% annual inflation rate, waves of marketplace shortages and outbreaks of strikes.

The government first attempted to soften worker discontent with large pay increases. But a second round of strikes last month resulted in increased pressure on Messner’s government and a decision by Jaruzelski and the party leadership to enter into a tentative dialogue with Lech Walesa, leader of the banned Solidarity trade union.

The government has stopped short of legalizing Solidarity again but has signaled what appears to be a new course--trying to win public support and labor peace by broadening its contacts with the opposition.

One speaker Monday, an independent member of Parliament, went so far as to suggest that Solidarity “should regain its proper place in the trade union movement.”

“Apart from associations, apart from Solidarity,” said Ryszard Bender, a representative from Wroclaw, “there is also a need to have new political parties.”

In a 30-minute speech that concluded with his resignation, Messner on Monday spoke sternly of Solidarity-led opposition forces, reflecting the party split between liberals and hard-liners.

“We are paying for (the strikes) now, with the escalation of claims and further imbalances of the market, with the loss of the authority of managerial personnel and with the non-observance of the law,” he said. “We have again become a symbol of anarchy for the world.”

Messner also suggested that the proposed round-table talks could be a perilous undertaking for the government.

The talks, he said, “could mean the attainment of broader support for reforms. This would make it easier to accept their inevitable costs. However, the point is that sometimes significant differences of views and interests . . . block progressive transformations.”