Ready to Step Down, Polish Premier Says : Communist Leader Blames Solidarity for Impasse Over Cabinet

Premier Czeslaw Kiszczak of Poland, stalled in his efforts to put together a government, called Monday on President Wojciech Jaruzelski to appoint the head of the small United Peasants’ Party in his place.

Kiszczak appeared to stop short of submitting a formal resignation. He blamed Solidarity leader Lech Walesa for complicating and prolonging his effort to form a Cabinet.

Walesa said last week that his free trade union movement was ready to form a coalition with the Communist-allied groups--the United Peasants and Democratic parties--and said Solidarity would vote against any government Kiszczak submitted to Parliament for its approval.

There was no immediate response to the Kiszczak announcement from Solidarity. Its senior leaders have declared that they would be willing to lead the government but not enter into any “grand coalition” of the sort proposed by the government. Kiszczak and Jaruzelski have offered repeatedly to organize such a coalition, which would include members of all the parties represented in Parliament.

Solidarity’s parliamentary leader, Bronislaw Geremek, declined to comment on Kiszczak’s announcement. Walesa could not be reached immediately, but Henryk Wujec, a Solidarity member of Parliament, dismissed as “idiotic” the suggestion that Roman Malinowski, head of the United Peasants’ Party, be asked to form a government. He said Walesa would not support such a move.

“Malinowski has no chance to make it,” Wujec said.

Walesa spent most of Monday in Warsaw, where he expected to meet with representatives of the Peasants and Democratic parties on his proposal to form a coalition based on less than 40% of the seats in Parliament.

Soviets Criticize Walesa

A factor of mounting concern in the drawn-out drama over the Polish leadership is the attitude of the Soviet Union, which finally broke its silence on the issue. On Monday, Pravda, the Soviet Communist Party daily, accused Walesa of damaging efforts to ease the political tension in Poland. It charged that his actions could lead to a “prolonged governmental crisis in Poland.”

Last week, according to the Polish news agency, the Soviet ambassador in Warsaw met with Kiszczak and leaders of the Peasants and Democratic parties.

Kiszczak, who was elected Aug. 2, said Monday that he would present his recommendation to Jaruzelski “so that he considers the new situation and draws from it the proper conclusions.” As president, Jaruzelski chooses the premier, who must then be approved by Parliament.

“A situation has emerged,” Kiszczak said, “in which I see a chance for Roman Malinowski to form a new government in which there would be representatives of all forces in the Parliament. At the same time, it would point to a clear sign of the priority treatment given to agriculture and the food economy in Poland’s policy.”

Malinowski, a 54-year-old economist, has led the Peasants party since 1981. Last year he was the Speaker of Parliament. In the political jockeying over the formation of a new government after elections in June, Malinowski has been reluctant to endorse efforts by his party’s floor leader, Aleksander Bentkowski, to bolt the Communist coalition and form a new alliance with Solidarity.

Bentkowski said Monday night that he was not sure Malinowski would accept the post if it were offered, since Solidarity has made it clear that it wants to lead any such coalition, not merely join it.

“Gen. Kiszczak in this way is presenting his resignation,” Bentkowski said. “In an elegant manner, he is making the president realize that somebody else has to do it.”

Bentkowski said his candidate for premier would be Walesa. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, a Solidarity member of the Senate, said Sunday that Walesa was considering accepting the role of premier in a Solidarity-led government.

The role of the two Communist coalition partners has taken on prime importance here since the June elections, which guaranteed the Communists 37% of the seats in Parliament. The Peasants party, with 76 votes, and the Democrats, with 28, control the balance of power between Solidarity and the Communists.

On Aug. 1, at Bentkowski’s urging, the Peasants threatened to vote against Kiszczak’s nomination for premier, causing his election to be delayed by a day until the Communist leadership flexed its muscle and forced the rebellious party back on the bandwagon.

At that stage, it appeared that Kiszczak would be able to proceed with the formation of a government to deal with snowballing economic problems. The most pressing of these problems are consumer shortages, rising prices and renewed worker demands for higher wages.

At the same time, there has been public cynicism over what many Poles regard as a mere reshuffling of familiar faces at the top of the government, with Jaruzelski taking on his new role as president, Kiszczak moving from the Interior Ministry to the premiership and the outgoing premier, Mieczyslaw F. Rakowski, taking over as Communist Party leader.

After its sweeping success in the June elections, the Solidarity leadership rejected Jaruzelski’s proposals to join the Communists in a grand coalition. Its most influential leaders, reflecting the moderate core of Solidarity, went a step further and acknowledged that the union movement was not yet experienced enough to run a government--even in the unlikely event that it would be given the opportunity to do so.

However, the apparent inability of the Communist leadership to organize a government--and to manage its own coalition--has led some moderates to suggest that Solidarity, despite its inexperience, could hardly do worse than the Communists, whose authority and effectiveness appear to be declining daily.