Walesa Says He Will Back Any Candidate Party Picks

Solidarity leader Lech Walesa announced Friday he will support any candidate from the Communist Party coalition for the new post of president and urged that the vote be held right away.

“I state that I will cooperate with any president elected no matter if it is Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski, Gen. Czeslaw Kiszczak or some other representative of the coalition, in order to solve Polish problems,” he said in a statement.

Jaruzelski, the leader of the Communist Party, announced June 30 he would not run, saying he was too closely linked with the martial law that he imposed in 1981 to crush the independent Solidarity trade union movement.

Sejm Due to Vote

He recommended Kiszczak, the interior minister, but the Communist Party leadership has asked Jaruzelski to consider running. In recent days, especially after appearing frequently with President Bush during his three-day visit, Jaruzelski has emerged again as a likely candidate.

The Sejm, or parliament, will elect the president, who will be responsible for the armed forces and foreign alliances. The post was created after talks on political and economic reforms between the government and Solidarity.

In his statement, Walesa said for the first time that Poland’s internal and international situation requires that the president come from the Communist coalition.

Must Be From Coalition

“The president may be elected only from the party-government coalition. It results from Poland’s internal and international situation,” Walesa said.

“The election of the president should be held immediately,” he said. “Our country faces a great chance, but at the same time we have a constitutional crisis connected with a delay in filling the president’s office. Extension of this situation causes additional dangers.”

Mikolaj Kozakiewicz, Communist speaker of the Sejm, said Thursday he wants to hold the joint vote of the Sejm and the new freely elected Senate to choose a president as soon as possible, preferably by July 22, Poland’s national day.