Mazowiecki Nearly Collapses, Recovers While Introducing New Polish Cabinet

Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki nearly collapsed from fatigue while introducing his new Cabinet to Parliament today, prompting a 45-minute recess until he returned and jokingly compared himself to Poland’s ailing economy.

During his speech, Mazowiecki, 62, said his legacy from the Solidarity movement, which brought about the first non-Communist government in the Warsaw Pact, could help heal the divisions in Poland.

“I have come as a man of Solidarity and of its heritage of August (1980),” he said, a reference to the workers’ revolt that led to the birth of the independent union. “This heritage means the ability to liquidate divisions (among people).”

After speaking for 40 minutes and taking several sips of water, Mazowiecki, looking exhausted but composed, asked for a recess.

He was examined by doctors, who conducted an electrocardiogram test but found no serious problems, said Dr. Zofia Kuratowska. She said he had felt faint because of overwork and nervous strain.

‘I Have Recovered’

Deputies applauded as Mazowiecki, looking tired and somber, returned to the rostrum after the break.

“Excuse me. I have reached the same state as the Polish economy,” he said in a rare glint of humor. “I have recovered, and I hope the economy will also recover.”

Lawmakers swiftly approved the Cabinet after Mazowiecki urged them to change virtually every aspect of Polish life.

The vote was 402 in favor of Mazowiecki’s Cabinet, none against and 13 abstentions.

Mazowiecki, smiling, lifted his hands in the “V” for victory sign that for so long represented illegal opposition to the Communist government. The Sejm, or Parliament, rose to applaud.

“My biggest dream has come true,” he said.

The names of the new Cabinet ministers were read, with the loudest ovation going to Jacek Kuron, the new labor minister who spent nine years in prison for his opposition activism.

Support From Walesa

Solidarity leader Lech Walesa, who turned down a chance to lead the new administration to remain a private citizen, promised full support to the new government headed “by one of us.”

“For the first time in half a century, Poland has a government that can be considered by millions of people as their own,” he said in Gdansk.

In Moscow, Soviet Foreign Ministry spokesman Gennady I. Gerasimov said of the new government: “We are prepared to cooperate with that government and develop our relations with Poland.”