Mazowiecki Ousts 3 Ex-Communists From Cabinet, Urges Calm : Poland: But his move fails to halt criticism as Warsaw struggles with the economy and transition to democracy.

Faced with complaints from Lech Walesa and other critics, the Polish prime minister Friday expelled three ex-Communists from his Cabinet and pleaded for political calm.

But Tadeusz Mazowiecki failed to soften the attacks on his government, which is struggling to introduce a market economy and complete the transition to democracy.

Even members of the prime minister’s Solidarity camp said they expected bolder moves to restructure his 10-month-old Solidarity-led government.

Mazowiecki accepted the resignations of five of 24 Cabinet ministers, including three of the four former Communists who were included in the government last year as the price for Solidarity taking power.

The most prominent former Communists who departed were Interior Minister Czeslaw Kiszczak and Defense Minister Florian Siwicki.

The third ex-Communist to be ousted was Transport Minister Franciszek Wieladek.

Also resigning were Agriculture Minister Czeslaw Janicki of the Peasant Party and Telecommunications Minister Marek Kucharski of the Democratic Party.

The prime minister used most of a parliamentary address to warn against “party quarrels and struggles for personal ambitions at the expense of the state.”

The remarks appeared to be a reference to Walesa, the Polish labor hero who led the fight against the old Communist regime. Many people now believe Walesa would like to succeed President Wojciech Jaruzelski, another former Communist, as leader of Poland.

The prime minister appeared to be responding to criticism by Walesa in ousting the ex-Communists and calling for parliamentary elections “much earlier” than spring 1991, when they are scheduled.

Walesa had no comment on Mazowiecki’s nationally broadcast speech.

The Solidarity chairman has struck a populist chord with his attacks on Mazowiecki. He has urged faster replacement of Communists in the government and state-run industries, new elections to remove Communists still in the Parliament, and quicker privatization of state enterprise.

Mazowiecki’s Cabinet made history Sept. 12 when it was seated as the former East Bloc’s first non-Communist government.

But it has been beset by difficulties. The government has faced a major rail strike, used police to break up two farm protests and defended itself against a steady stream of criticism from Walesa.