Poland Is Changing, but How Much? : With Walesa rejected by voters after 5 years, an ex-Communist will assume the presidency

Lech Walesa is one of Poland’s great heroes and the deserved recipient of international acclaim that includes the Nobel Peace Prize. His charismatic leadership was instrumental 15 years ago in creating the trade union movement Solidarity, which became the leading political force in redeeming Poland from the Communism imposed on it by the Soviet Union after World War II.

But the same pugnacious refusal to compromise with political enemies that made Walesa a successful union leader sapped his effectiveness as Poland’s president. This week, after five years in office, Walesa was defeated for reelection by Alexander Kwasniewski, a former Communist who now identifies himself as a social democrat and leads the Democratic Left Alliance. Not surprisingly, Walesa announced he would refuse to meet with the president-elect before power changes hands Dec. 21. “We have nothing to talk about,” he said. “I never change my mind.”

The important question now, however, isn’t whether Walesa will change his mind but whether Poland will change direction away from the free-market democracy it has become since 1990.

Most authority is constitutionally vested in the 460-member Parliament. The president may appoint Cabinet members but not dismiss them. A coalition of Kwasniewski’s party--whose membership is heavily ex-Communist--and the Polish Peasant Party has held parliamentary power since 1993. So democratic and free-market Poland will now be led by those who once supported authoritarian rule and at least outwardly embraced a socialist economy.

It’s significant that Kwasniewski, who is 41, ran especially well among young voters and those in the countryside whose lives have not been easy during the transition to capitalism. While promising to press ahead with reforms, Kwasniewski says he will also act to ease the shock of economic transition. If that means approving more state control over the economy, both Poland’s impressive rate of growth and its appeal to foreign investors could begin to decline.

Europe and the United States will be watching developments closely. Poland has been a leading candidate for membership in the European Union and NATO. With former Communists now dominating Poland’s political institutions, doubts about the wisdom of bringing it into what are essentially Western organizations could deepen. Kwasniewski convinced a majority of Polish voters that he could be trusted. Now he faces the same task in the West.