Poland split dependent of government.
disastrous for Essentially, these terms mean stalinist burcaucracy maintain direct control over some of the key aris of the state - the army and the police and various others as well, through the mini- stries of defence and interior: laken along with those ministries controlled by the UPP, they rep- being established make the situa- Solidarose and the Polish work- lion potentially Pressure from below also meant that in the aftermath of the was ruled out. However, in this the immense tactical flexibility of scats wore up for ciection, leaving the PZPR in control despite Solidarose's overwhelming vic- clections an open coalition be- twcen Solidamost and the PZIR tory in the scats that they con- the stalinist bureaucracy seemingly intractable project. The latter can be summed perestroika, but with a far smaller This forms the backdrop to recent The first sign that Jaruzelski's regime was moving towards u Solidarosc was the round table talks (which we have discussed in base of support than Gorbachev. From confrontation to as a Polish version strategy of compromise collaboration up First, there is an impressive mass uprisings took place in the ticular, all of them in response to Eastern at recent Polish workers, and for the anti- events, it is worthwhile to notc history of independent massac- tivity in opposition to the regime: 1950s. 1970g and 1980s in par the catalyst of the pricing Europe more generally? post-capitalist Poland: or lwo points looking stalinist struggle Before stalinist one
trol of the coonomy knowing two • The Walesa group share their views on economic policy. with more loans and joint Solidamnse 's Prime Mmister group have been landed with the disastrous economic situation and denied control over most of the other main areas of state policy. The P/PR have handed over con- seeking "marketisation' Mazowiecki and the very important facts: PZPR, The latter event is remark- able in the sense that the UPP has PZPR, and hax now been wheeled out as a political alternative lo Realising that such an open coalition was not an option, in a hizure lum of events the United obscurity to lake the place of the for decades been nothing more than a passive appendage of the the first indications of the lengths This provided the beginnings demonstrations in opposition to the negotiations (though Walesa was generally successful in per- suading workers in call off their previous issues) It also provided to which the Walesa group were prepared to go, when Walesa himself declared that he would of the strategic split within the stop any strike that occurred consultation. These latter points leadership around Lech Walesa as well an a clandestine network of mechanisms for accountability or Have not been rectified since - law period, although Solidamusc Second, through the martial munaged to maintain its central necessity the union federation lost the vast majority of its member- and had no democratic and publications. availability of haric Foodstuffs. activists
foodstuffs, causing price rises of up to 200%, in the same week as as projects from the westem im- • The practical effects of these policies are likelky to be An indicator of the Tatter is the removal of suhsidies on basic Prime: Minister. Unemployment SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 18, October 1989 installation extremely unpopular. Mazowiecki's perialists. tactic worked, and a de facto tremely dangerous move; but the renas on which the govemment 1s: coalition berween Solidarose tablisbed through the hack door. Any such compromise with the bureaucracy would be an ex- and the regime has heen ex Solidarnose carrying Unfortunately, this tial elections*, where only 35% of Walesa's Line remained generally spontaneous, with organised for- conciliatory line was not entirely ineffectual. Significant numbers uction, beit reluctantly in many boycotted the undemocratic par- The opposition small minenty- But opposition to remains the case today. stalinist Polish United Workers situation in which the ruling and thus Solidarnose remains a relatively small federation (in comparison with 1981) with a democratic mandate from within tige and popularity is not in Lastly we should note the the union (though Walesa's pres which has Page 4
Build on gains from Year of Action UPDATE Irish solidarity and other austerity measures are Though recent pro-capitalist remarks by Solidarose ministers toration is yer on the cards. The tor and the partial introduction of are worrying, it would be prema- ture to suppose that any real res creation of a smallish private sec- market mechanisms would seem sure to follow.
Page 5 tion: it is difficult to see how one During October of this year there will be a number of ac- This issue, with its opportunitics their righte are being taken from Also over the coming months there must be more work done to population, the vast majority of can he an activist without sup tivities to protest against the fust anniversary of TV and radio cen- sorship of irish organisations: for public activity on Ireland, ex- plaining to British workers how them by an imperialist govem ment, and attracting the attention of people who are wary of Irish politics, is the perfect model for uniting the strands of the draw in the Irish immigrant whom are under 30 and mostly Finally, much more work still has to be done in the Labour Party. A number of Labour coun cils cancelled or refused book- ings for meetings with members laborating with the Tories, and structure in the Party, This job, rather neglected by the Labour Committee on Ireland, must not Liam Mac Vaid of Sinn Fein: this is simply col must be fought through every be forgotten in the months ahead. sympathetic to our message. Pater Hain saying Time to Go': now It Is time to unite solldarity forces withdrawal movement. TO 601 porting this, look have consistently argued for the broadest possible unity of all those who support the demand queatly in the past year this has led us to disagree strongly with those who try to dominate the 1989 demonstration, despite the circumstances and the arrival of migrants from Ireland in the past eight ycars, was smaller than that This should bammer hone been built up over the last year, The fact that the for Irish self-determination. Fre- much more favowrable political in 1979, Icaves no room for com the point that unity in exsential, and that it can be achieved without cach organisation being forced to abandon its own orien- and projects A good beginning would be a conference of achivists al which a number of hasic tasks could be agreed to sustain the momentum that has and which would preserve the important concept of a national movement, as opposed in a series The only one thing on which these activists need to agree is their support for the right of the Irish people to self-determina placency in the solidarity move of uncoordinated local groups. more than 200,000 young tation ment. audience of 30,000 or more. In the event little more than 5,000 attended the carnival in London on August 12, to listen to a series of remarkably similar third-rate This was the climax of a year quence of attempts hy clements within the Time To Go campaign to retain almost total control of detailed explanation of But though none of the England and Wales by Year of splits, generally as a conse- activities throughout the year. (A problems was loven in isNuc No.17 of Socralist Out- solidarity organisations have made large numbers of new members, meetings have been organised throughout Scotland, Action and Time To Go groups, which have sometimes attracted more than 50 people. A core of dedicated activists has been built working together on the most simple and the best common denominator - support for