Gdansk Hails Nominee for Premier : Thousands of Poles Turn Out in Solidarity’s Stronghold

Several thousand cheering Poles greeted Tadeusz Mazowiecki, the Solidarity activist nominated as Poland’s next prime minister, in the trade union’s stronghold in Gdansk on Sunday.

Amid chants of “Solidarity! Solidarity!” Mazowiecki told a crowd of about 10,000 outside St. Brigida’s Church that “we have to get rid of this feeling of hopelessness. This nation, this fantastic nation, can fix things so that we will live a better life.”

It was the first public appearance by Mazowiecki, the 62-year-old editor of Solidarity’s weekly newspaper, since he was named Saturday by President Wojciech Jaruzelski to form the first non-Communist government in Eastern Europe since the end of World War II.

Meanwhile, Communist hard-liners vented their anger at last week’s turn of events. The Communist Party Central Committee adopted a resolution Saturday accusing Solidarity and two small non-Communist parties of breaking the so-called round-table agreements on political reform signed in April.

The resolution demanded that the Communists be given more than the two portfolios--those of the foreign and interior ministries--that have been offered by Solidarity.

Bid for More Influence

“The Communist Party’s representation in the new government must correspond to its political and state potential,” the resolution said. “Otherwise, we will not be able to assume co-responsibility for the course of developments.”

Solidarity leader Lech Walesa, who orchestrated the drive to take over the government from the Communists, was at Mazowiecki’s side at the church that has offered patronage and sanctuary to Solidarity activists since the union was formed in August, 1980. Walesa, in an ebullient mood, was wildly cheered by Solidarity supporters.

“This is our greatest achievement since Yalta,” Walesa proclaimed, referring to the World War II agreement between the Allied powers that divided Europe. Introducing Mazowiecki to the crowd, Walesa said that he had just two requests of the man whom he had presented to Jaruzelski as his choice for prime minister. “First,” Walesa said, “give me a warning before I am about to be arrested. Second, let me have a permanent pass into the Parliament.”

Both Walesa and Mazowiecki served a year in detention during the martial-law crackdown that began in 1981.

Solidarity’s leadership met in Gdansk on Saturday and Sunday to discuss the formation of the government.

‘The Help of All Forces’

“We will have to ask for the help of all forces, external and internal, so that Solidarity’s involvement has a bigger effect,” Walesa said. “A non-Communist government must lead society, and society has to solve all the problems.”

A recurring theme in the statements from Walesa and Mazowiecki over the past several days has been an emphasis on Poles helping themselves to improve their economic condition, assisted by a government that will remove obstacles instead of reinforcing them, as they accuse the Communists of doing.

Next Parliament Session

Mazowiecki is expected to be voted into office at the next session of Parliament, probably on Wednesday.

Under the arrangement agreed upon by Jaruzelski and Walesa, the Communists will retain the defense and interior ministries, with the rest of the government’s departments headed by ministers appointed from the ranks of Solidarity and its coalition partners, the United Peasants’ Party and the Democratic Party.

Solidarity’s ability to form the new government hinged on the acquiescence of those two parties, which hold the balance of power in the lower house of Parliament, or Sejm. The Communist Party Central Committee resolution accused the two parties of breaking an agreement to maintain their longtime alliance with the Communists.

Not an Ad Hoc Thing

“This was not an ad hoc arrangement subject to political intrigues,” the resolution said.

The resolution stopped short of saying that the Communists would refuse to cooperate in a Solidarity-led government, but it implied that cooperation would be far from enthusiastic.

“The Central Committee appeals to all (Communist Party) members for a total mobilization of forces to counteract attempts at exploiting the present situation to destabilize the state and undermine the foundations of Poland’s political system and its role in the socialist community of states,” the resolution said.