Hunt for Reds Clouds Polish Politics As New Prime Minister Urges Coalition

Horror at an imminent inquisition -- with the McCarthyite whiff of a secret list revealing prominent informers -- shocked parliament into voting out Prime Minister Jan Olszewski's ineffectual multi-party government. It quickly approved President Lech Walesa's choice to build another coalit...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inThe Wall Street journal. Eastern edition
Main Author By Barry Newman in London And Timothy Mapes and Agnieszka Mitraszewska in Warsaw
Format Newspaper Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York, N.Y Dow Jones & Company Inc 08.06.1992
EditionEastern edition
Subjects
Communism
Parliaments
Political activism
Prime ministers
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Summary:Horror at an imminent inquisition -- with the McCarthyite whiff of a secret list revealing prominent informers -- shocked parliament into voting out Prime Minister Jan Olszewski's ineffectual multi-party government. It quickly approved President Lech Walesa's choice to build another coalition, a 33-year old farmer, Waldemar Pawlak. Mr. Pawlak's appeal to "elevate ourselves above divisions and antagonisms" struck a chord as parliament passed a budget for 1992 that had been blocked by months of argument over spending cuts. It holds the deficit to $4.5 billion, in keeping with the preferences of the International Monetary Fund. That may please Westerners and reopen the flow of aid, but it won't easily clarify Polish politics. His appointment, Mr. Olszewski charged in a Polish newspaper Saturday, presaged a communist comeback. That's assuming Mr. Pawlak succeeds in pulling together a workable government at all. With 29 parties in parliament, none with more than 51 of the 460 seats, the task has defied several attempts. Mr. Olszewski's cabinet was too weak to see the passage of any law of importance in its five-month life and endured the resignations of two finance ministers.
ISSN:0099-9660