Poland in Despair

The National Executive Commission of Solidarity, led by Lech Walesa, has taken a risky but wise step in agreeing to negotiations with the Polish government on reinstitution of the legal recognition of the independent union. Both the government offer and the union acceptance are measures of the economic and political desperation of the nation.

One risk is that the government, despite the Polish Communist Party central committee concessions, will not fulfill the promise for “trade-union pluralism” and the creation of “new trade unions, including Solidarity.” Despite Walesa’s careful effort to restrain expectations for the negotiations, a failure would inflame the nation and almost certainly bring a breakdown of public order.

Another risk is posed by radicals within Solidarity itself. These workers are in such desperate circumstances that they feel they have nothing to lose by arguing extreme positions. They could make negotiations of moderate reforms more difficult at a time when Walesa himself has acknowledged that there will be “no immediate relief” for the economic problems besetting Poland. Talks, and a restoration of legality for Solidarity, will not cure the economic ailments of the nation.

The critical importance of the negotiations is apparent. The government seems at last to understand that the situation is so grave that there is no alternative but to recognize Solidarity, thus yielding the monopoly of power held by the Communist Party. Walesa, convinced that a solution to the economic problem will be found only through the restoration of pluralism in the society, has concluded that “a new chapter in Polish internal relations” will be opened when the roundtable negotiations commence next Monday.