Socialists spell out tasks 'On the new government in Poland' Statement by the Polish Socialist Party (Democratic In the last issue of Socialist Outlook we carried our analysis of the new situation in Poland, and referred to the promising political contribution of the small forces of the Polish Socialist Party (Democratic Revolution). Their policy document responding to the inclusion of Solidarity leaders in the Polish government has just been trans-
nd an end to travel restrictions. It remains to be seen how far Krenz will go to meet those demands.
And what of 'the German question' another favourite topic of the Wester media and politicians? The conservative West German paper, Die Zeit, commented (13 Oct.):
"What is very noticeable is that there is one demand which is not heard - reunification. These intellectual, religious and political spokespersons of reform don't want to abolish the GDR, only to change it. ... The capitalist FRG is not their model: they are dreaming once again of "socialism with a human face".'
'We want to change the situation in the GDR', says Brbel Bohley, spokesperson for New Forum, 'an open border, free travel, but not reunification'. The mass demonstrations in Leipzig which shouted 'We are the people' are not looking for exit visas but political The appointment of Tadeusz Mazowiecki as premier of the People's Republic of Poland is an expression of the deepening of the crisis of the system of the ruling nomenklatura.
This socio-economic phenomenon has its roots in the establishment of Solidarity, inde pendent of the bureaucracy of the workers' movement, in August 1980. The eight-year long effort of General Jaruzelski's regime to stifle the self-organisation of society has ended in fiasco.
The appointment of the Mazowiecki government does not however mean that society has taken power. It has been constructed on the basis of 32 percent democracy and at the price of a guarantee not to disturb the foundations of the system which has existed hitherto. The fundamental structures of opower - the office of President, the ministries of Internal Affairs and defence, the National Bank of Poland - are not only outside Page 26
IN DEPTH change.
But the question of reunification is indeed posed, and it will be posed all the more if the reforms in the East are not implemented. For the Soviet Union, the future of East Germany depends on the kinds of relationships that are established between East and West Europe as a whole. "The fate of the Germans', said Gorbachev in Bonn, 'depends absolutely on the fate of the whole of Europe, it is part of the perspective of the creation of a common European home.' The West German establishment has been at pains to assert that, in the words of Genscher, the foreign minister, 'German federalism must develop as part of a developing European federalism'. The SPD speaks of a Germany 'united only in the framework of a united states of Europe'. Indeed the Western bourgeois states as well as the Soviet Union want to avoid what Genscher for Solidarity Revolution) lated into English. social control, but outside the control of the premier himself. The group of opposition leaders represented by the new premier who have agreed to these conditions have not exploited to the full the opportunity arising from LECH- CONGRATULATIONS ON strikes and the YOUR ELECTION VICTORY bankruptcy of the Polish United Workers Party (PUWP)
Nonetheless the establishment of the government does create possibilities for the ful fillment of social exper- SHARE POWER RIGHT AWAY AND THE PARTY IS READY TO tations. These may be listed as follows:
1.) The destruction of all the remnants of totalitarian governments; the liquidation of the mechani the of do overtion of the state over
calls a 'de-europeanization' of the German question.
The European right, by no means united around a common strategy for Western Europe, certainly have no agreed strategy for East European states like Poland and the GDR. The democratization of East Germany, an advanced industrial society with a strong left-wing tradition and without, up to now, many prominent defenders of the capitalist road, may not fit well into the right-wing scheme of things. The cold-war strategy of reunification through absorption is not wanted by the majority in either part of Germany. The future of East Germany and the future of Europe are indeed bound together and present a real challenge to the left in Europe as a whole. society, above all the dissolution of the Security Police, the Zomo and the ORMO, together with the reform of the penal code, with the end of securing democratic freedoms.
YOU AND SOLIDARITY HAVE IMPRESSIVE POPULAR SUPPORT... HOW'D YOU LIKE TO ANNOUNCE THE NEXT FOOD PRICE MIKE? SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 18, October 1989
This means also the privileged status of the PUWP and all the groups connected to it (the democratic Party, the Peasnts' Party, the Union of Socialist Youth, and so on). All those fulfilling leading functions in administration or the economy should be subject to election. All local administration should be subject to free, secret, equal, proportional and direct elections.
A guarantee of freedom of political and social activity. This means that there should be no restriction on the right to strike or on the creation of trade unions. This should include the police force and the army, in accord with clause no.2 of the 21 demands of the Gdansk Inter-factory strike committee in 1980: 'Securing the right to strike and the security of strikers and those rendering them assistance'.
In accordance with demand no.7, payment should be "made to all strikers for the period of the strike as for tedical leave'.
The activity of political parties, which are the basis of modem democracy and a condition of the subjectivity of society, should not be legally restricted.
Real freedom of the press and of information should be guaranteed through the liquidation of censorship and the destruction of the material and legal basis for monopoly in this area. This refers especially to the press distribution network, which should be put at the disposal of all political, social and cultural groups. Radio and television should be subjected to representative bodies at an ap propriate level, and access to them should be guaranteed to all political groups.
2.) The economy should be subjected to social needs, with the goal of a modern twenty first century economy, which should guarantee to all members of society satisfactory living conditions i.e. at least the right to a nourishing diet, dignified housing, comprehensive health SOCIALIST OUTLOOK no 18, October 1989
N MAR A warning to the bureaucracy: Solidarity shows Its mass support, May Day 1988 destruction of the (for example nurseries, education and culture). the government of Mieczyslaw Rakowski fol- tion.
P TH RESEEN MES NO Now Soviet workers are following the Polish lead service and universal access to social services The indispensible condition for the realisa- tion of these goals is the subordination of the economy to the producers. Only such a model of social life can guarantee to each person the possibility of self-realisation, and it is the in- dispensible condition of the emancipation of workers. society. To the last moment of its existence, lowed in the footsteps of its predecessors, in executing faits accomplis which orientated the 'We Polish economy in wholly the opposite direc- The possibilities for appropriation by the nomenklatura were widened, and opportunities
given for the development of speculative and corrupt capital. The conditions were created for the sale of the national means of production to foreign capital. What is more, it per- mitted the precipitate rise in foodstuff prices through the in- troduction of market mechanisms in a situation in which there were acute food it continued shortages; the of linking the process up bureaucratic with economy market mechanisms, so wor- sening the position of the of majority society. The of Tadeusz government Mazowiecki should radically break from the policy of the preceding government. 3.) The application of plan- ning, self-management and the market. There should be an awareness that the destiny of the economy rests first and foremost in the hands of the workers themselves. Only through the self-or- ganisation of the workers and through their in- itiative can the resistance of the old Party-state apparatus be overcome. Only in this way will the new govemment be able to realise economic changes that are favourable to the In accordance with thesis no.1 of the Solidarity programme, adopted by the First Congress of Delegates in 1981: a self-managed demand and democratic refom at every level of manage- ment and a new socio-economic system, com- bining planning, self-management and the market ... The social enterprise should be the Page 27
unit in the basic organisational economy. It should be controlled by the workers' council, as a repre- sentative of the workforce. The Direc- tor should be responsible for opera- matters and he should be tional appointed competitively by the cour- cil, which also has the right to dismiss him ... The reform should socialise planning'. The realisation of a reform under- stood in this way requires social con- trol over production by self-manage- ment organisations of workers, farmers and artisans. These should be con- centrated in self management cham- bers at regional and national level. Such control requires: • Ensuring identical possibilities for the activity of self-management or- ganisations, trade unions and other bodies representing workers in all sec- tors of ownership, together with a unified legal system relating to production, employment, trade, work- ing conditions and wages. • The transformation of working relations within the enterprise in the direction of liberating labour, especial- ly through restricting the numbers of super- visory staff and guaranteeing that they are subject to election. @The public availability of economic in- formation. Workers' control over the means and goals of production is an indispensible stage on the road to society enjoying full responsibility for the management of the economy. This involves monitoring produc- tion, cooperative links between self-manage- ments and Chambers of Self Management (with reports on the state of enterprises and of the economy). This will make possible a na- tional democratic discussion on the principles of central allocation of economic surpluses and an ever-wider satisfaction of the needs ex- pressed by society. It will not be possible to eliminate the ap plication of market mechanisms of distribution until socio economic development has reached a sufficient level to satisfy needs for particular products. However in conditions of scarcity, decisions about the application of free market mechanisms should be subjected to the will of a society conscious of its needs. 4.) The self defence of workers from the effects of the crisis. The painfulness of the present economic ctisis requires that the workers undertake self defence activity: • Workers' control over prices. The regional structures of Solidarity, in coopera- tion with, amongst others, commissions of the union on trade and services, must produce a weekly public accounting on the rise in the cost of living. On this basis the introduction of a weekly cost of living bonus should be demanded. The government should resolve to take determined steps to arrest the rise in Page 28
IN DEPTH Walesa: turning his back on Solldanty's First Congress policies?
• Social control over the distribution of foodstuffs. In accord with thesis no.7 of the programme of Solidarity, adopted by the First National Congress of Delegates in 1981, in conditions of intense scarcity of foodstuffs, the