Poland’s P.M. replaced

Press, 11 February 1981, Page 18

Poland’s P.M. replaced

The resignations of Mr Jpze£ Pinkowski as.J’riine Minister of Poland and his replacertient ' by" General ’ Wojciech ’ Jaruzelski, 'formerly the Defence Minis- “ ter, is a further sign of the stresses in Poland. It should not be regarded as a sigh.-nf the imminent collapse of the ■polish Government or that any invasion from. Warsaw Pact forces is closer. • The most powerful political figure in Poland is the leader of the Polish United Workers’ Party and First Secretary, "Mr Stanislaw Kania. When Mr J Kania-'replaced Mr Edward Gierek on it was clear that the y troubles in* Poland wergveryserious. Mr Pinkowski was appointed in Mr Gierek’s time and was then regarded as holding the position temporarily. Had he managed to stop the strikes and improve the economy again doubt- ■ less he would still be Prime Minister. In fact, the strikes have continued and '.‘ have. worsened. Eventually some political heads would have to roll; Mr Pinkowski has joined three other former Prime Ministers of Poland in the last year. ■ , • Many people in Westerh democratic societies find strikes distasteful. Some would even describe them as economically • disastrous. To communist eyes strikes have the added disadvantage of being offensive philosophically and of creating a basic economic threat to the State. After all, if the State’s only source of income is ’from the production of its workers, strikes cannot be r regarded with equanimity. Ideologically it. may be argued that strikers are really striking, against themselves. To

those steeped in- party doctrine in Poland it must be difficult, to grasp how the strikers can be so blind to such obvious ideological truths. Such -sentiments have their parallels in the West. An added irony for strict Communists is that the independent' union, Solidarity, is using a basic tool ,of Communist doctrine, workers’ unity, to achieme its aims. These are not happy days for communist ideologues. In spite of political grumblings from the Soviet Union, the Warsaw Pact, powers; seem to -be avoiding invasion. The-Soviet Union has been showing economic concern for Poland for some time and has made substantial financial contributions to Poland’s coffers. As long as the concern remains economic, the arguments for restraint on the part of the Warsaw Pact countries will seem compelling. The Soviet Union will probably tolerate some degree of independence of the trade unions and—an even more bitter pill to swallow—some degree of free expression on economic matters. If there were any real doubt about whether Poland would remain in the Warsaw Pact, the tolerance would end promptly. Strategically, the Soviet Union, with a concentration of military forces in East Germany, cannot afford to let Poland, its supply route from the Soviet Union, slip away. General Jaruzelski, as a military man, will understand this as well as anyone might and much of his effort as Prime Minister will be directed at seeing that this does not happen.