Polish Round Table Agreement

Round Table in Poland refers to the roundtable discussions that took place during the transition phase from the communist regime to a democratic republic between February 6 and April 5, 1989 in Warsaw. Participants were representatives of the ruling Polish United Workers' Party, the opposition Solidarity, the Catholic Church and other social groups. The first meeting of the round table was held on 6 February 1989.

Prehistory

The growing in 1988 strike movement in Poland was considered by the PZPR with concern. The previous policy Jaruzelski, which was based on the principles of consultation and co-optation had failed. The regime was aware that no reform work you could have done that would have a broad social basis without Solidarity. Through the mediation of the leading intellectuals and the Catholic Church, it came on 31 August 1988, a first meeting between Interior Minister Czeslaw Kiszczak and Lech Wałęsa " among equals". The negotiations were first on the spot, especially when the new Prime Minister Mieczyslaw Rakowski wanted to focus on pure economic reforms. Only after a TV debate between Wałęsa and the head of the official trade union - OPZZ, Alfred Miodowicz, the former clearly decided according to the majority opinion of the audience for itself, the party leadership was clear that without the participation of the "Solidarity" new reforms in the population does not enforce would be.

The talks

From February 6 April 5th, 1989 representatives of the Communist Party and the social opposition gathered in Warsaw to a round table.

The work was divided into three equal representation working groups ( " main tables " called ) were made:

  • Working group for political reforms,
  • Working Group on Economic and Social Policy,
  • Working Group on trade union and political pluralism.

Each bargaining unit in turn taught subgroups and working committees - a total of over 400 experts working on agreements: the reform of local government, the judiciary, the media and other areas.

The negotiations at the Round Table were one of the clear signs of changes in the political landscape of Poland. Here, representatives of the Polska Zjednoczona partia Robotnicza ( PZPR ), the opposition Solidarity, the Catholic Church and other social groups were compared. It was preceded by the Round Table negotiations between Czesław Kiszczak and Lech Wałęsa and their delegations in Magdalenka near Warsaw.

Agreements

The Round -table discussions led to profound changes in all spheres of public life. In the political sphere agreed to a gradual introduction of the full sovereignty of the people with the associated pluralism. As an immediate measure was on April 17, the "Solidarity" re-admitted. The recognition of a multi-party system, the principle of free elections, and independent courts were more important stages of this process. The special feature of the " Polish revolution" is that both sides, despite a seemingly irreconcilable interests, a compromise between a reform and revolution succeeded. The British historian Timothy Garton Ash called this phenomenon a " refolution ".

Important agreements:

  • Distribution of seats in the Sejm for the key 65:35 %,
  • Readmission of the Solidarity trade union,
  • Creation of a semi-presidential system of government,
  • Access of the opposition to mass media.

Further development

On 4 and 18 June 1989 that was in Poland for the first time after the Second World War, partially free parliamentary elections that have speeded up the system change.

The seats in the Sejm, were 35 percent (161 of 460 seats) awarded under the key 65 percent for the PZPR and its block parties for the free choice during the elections to the Senate were unlimited. All of the 161 awarded in free choice seats in the Sejm were won by the " Citizens' Committee Solidarity", the political organization of the Solidarity trade union, which also won 99 of a possible 100 seats in the re-established Senate. Of the total of 261 candidates of the " Citizens' Committee Solidarity" ( only one candidate per vacant, allocated mandate ), only one Senate candidate was not elected, while the PZPR brought by their candidates only with the help of a short-term change in the electoral law.

On July 19, 1989 showed a narrow majority, the election General Jaruzelski to April 7, again in 1989 by the Sejm created the office of president. A run of the Polish United Workers Party Cabinet under General Kiszczak not received the required majority. Instead, it succeeded the "Solidarity", on September 13, to form together with two recent block parties, a government under the Catholic journalist Tadeusz Mazowiecki.

In October 1989, the Finance Minister Leszek Balcerowicz introduced the so-called " Balcerowicz plan", which provided a rapid transformation of the economic system in a functioning market economy.

On December 29, 1989, the Constitution was amended. The provisions on the alliance with the Soviet Union and the socialist countries and the leading role of the Communist Party were deleted and the former state name Rzeczpospolita Polska ( Republic of Poland dt ) reintroduced with the old coat of arms.

These events initiated not only the gentle end of Communist Party rule in Poland, but also had a greater catalytic role and contributed significantly to the fall of the Berlin Wall in Germany and the downfall of communism in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.

The actual round table can be seen today at the Presidential Palace. It has a diameter of nine meters and a total of 57 people.

Participants in the main discussions

Representatives of the government coalition

  • Tomasz Adamczuk
  • Norbert Aleksiewicz
  • Stanisław Ciosek
  • Aleksander Gieysztor
  • Wieslaw Gwiżdż
  • Marek Hołdakowski
  • January Janowski
  • Janusz Jarliński
  • Czesław Kiszczak
  • Zenon Komender
  • January Karol Kostrzewski
  • Mikołaj Kozakiewicz
  • Bogdan Krolewski
  • Aleksander Kwasniewski
  • Maciej Manicki
  • Harald Matuszewski
  • Leszek Miller
  • Alfred Miodowicz
  • Kazimierz Morawski
  • Jerzy Ozdowski
  • Anna Przecławska
  • Tadeusz Raczkiewicz
  • January Rychlewski
  • Wladyslaw Sila - Nowicki
  • Zbigniew Sobotka
  • Romuald Sosnowski
  • Stanislaw Wisniewski
  • January Zaciura
  • Edward Zgłobicki

Representatives of public opposition

  • Stefan Bratkowski
  • Zbigniew Bujak
  • Władysław Findeisen
  • Władysław Frasyniuk
  • Geremek
  • Mieczyslaw Gil
  • Aleksander Hall
  • Jacek Kuroń
  • Władysław Liwak
  • Tadeusz Mazowiecki
  • Jacek Merkel
  • Adam Michnik
  • Alojzy Pietrzyk

Church observers

  • Bronisław Dembowski
  • Janusz Narzyński
  • Alojzy Orszulik

Press officer

Round table (discussion) Polish United Workers' Party Co-option Politics of Poland Senate of Poland History of Poland (1989–present)
634152
de