Polish Prime Minister, Cabinet Quit

Tadeusz Mazowiecki, the first non-Communist prime minister in the East Bloc, resigned today along with his government, a day after his crushing presidential election defeat, state radio reported.

Mazowiecki lost his chance to compete in a runoff election in two weeks when he finished third in Sunday’s balloting.

The first- and second-place finishers were Solidarity leader Lech Walesa and political neophyte Stanislaw Tyminski, a millionaire businessman who returned to the country after a 21-year absence. The two will face each other in a runoff contest on Dec. 9.

With Mazowiecki’s resignation, a new prime minister presumably will be nominated by the new president. Parliament must approve the nomination.

Before announcing his resignation, Mazoweicki vowed to continue “the struggle for a democracy as we want it.” But he added: “I am afraid I expect a period of chaos.”

Earlier today, Tyminski taunted Walesa at a packed news conference, at which he said he aimed for victory in the runoff.

“I hope to be in first place, obviously,” he said.

Walesa, asked if he will carry out his pre-election threat not to run in the Dec. 9 runoff against Tyminski, said: “I must say that I am hesitating. I would like not to run, but one has to think over what is good for Poland.”

Unofficial results from all 49 provinces except Warsaw, issued by the government news agency PAP, showed Walesa with 39.96% of the vote, followed by Tyminski with 23.1%. Mazowiecki managed only 18.08%. The rest went to a handful of minor contenders.

Tyminski campaigned on a promise to create “a democracy of money.”

“I would like to take my jacket off, roll my sleeves up and go to work to make this country rich,” he told reporters today.

Walesa told reporters in Gdansk that the challenger is not a “serious man” but admitted that Tyminski’s success shows that Poles have a lot to learn about democracy.