Solidarity accepts it must wait

Press, 27 July 1989, Page 8

Solidarity accepts it must wait

NZPA-Reuter Warsaw Solidarity appears to have accepted that it cannot form Poland’s next Government but believes it is only a matter of time before the Opposition movement becomes the country’s first non-com-munist Administration in decades.

Solidarity’s leader, Lech Walesa, met President Wojciech Jaruzelski for two hours yesterday and told him the only wise decision would be to let Solidarity govern following its success in last month’s Parliamentary Elections.

He came away from the

meeting saying General Jaruzelski was not ready for this and favoured establishing a grand coalition to wrestle with Poland’s economy, an unenviable task that could scupper a communist-led Cabinet within months of taking office. With this apparently in mind, Mr Walesa told reporters after his talks: “I plan to call a shadow cabinet to prepare for solutions which sooner or later will become unavoidable.”

His remarks indicated that General Jaruzelski could shortly name another Communist to head

a new Government if he decides to replace the Prime Minister, Mieczyslaw Rakowski. Possible contenders are Wladyslaw Baka, party economic specialist, and Ireneusz Sekula, a Deputy Prime Minister responsible for the economy. Mr Walesa plans to discuss General Jaruzelski’s Government search in talks today with Solidarity Parliamentarians. He said on Tuesday he would not oppose individual Solidarity members joining a communist-led cabinet “on their own account”. , Whatever the new Government’s hue, its first

priority will be to push through a scheme to raise food prices by exposing agricultural prices to market forces — a plan aimed at dismantling subsidies and reducing a huge Budget deficit. The party’s ruling Politburo said it wanted to introduce those price rises but only after the proposal had been reassessed. It had been poorly explained so far and townspeople feared prices would rocket but the shelves would remain bare, it said. Farmers backing the Peasants’ Party, tradition-

ally staunch allies of the communists, blocked many streets with tractors indicating their growing displeasure at the delay. They want purchase prices for their grain and livestock to rise sharply, and immediately, to cover production costs.

Mr Walesa said he did not envy General Jaruzelski because he faced so many problems but had told him Solidarity was the only group with enough popular support to carry through unpalatable economic measures to run parallel to political liberalisation.