Walesa Says He’s Certain to Win Campaign for Polish Presidency

Solidarity leader Lech Walesa said Saturday that he is certain of winning Poland’s presidency and doubts that Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki will stand against him.

“I know I shall win,” Walesa said in an interview with the Warsaw newspaper Zycie Warszawy. “I think he (Mazowiecki) won’t be a candidate. If he is, we will fight for victory. We shall hold a Western-style campaign.”

Walesa and Mazowiecki, who worked closely together in Solidarity during its decade in opposition, have become political rivals and potential presidential contenders since the movement won power from the Communists last year.

Walesa appeared to be warning Mazowiecki against challenging him for the post after the expected resignation of former Communist Party chief Gen. Wojciech Jaruzelski, who has remained head of state under a deal in which the Communists agreed to give up power to Solidarity.

Walesa said that as Solidarity’s leader he would not give up responsibility for Poland until democracy was firmly established.

“My intention is to lead to free elections in Poland. They will relieve me from responsibility for Poland or force me to play a new role,” Walesa said.

But he said he would only accept the presidency if he won an overwhelming popular mandate.