Back from the dead
There is little doubt as to this week's big political story, namely the return to politics of the man that many thought had gone for good: Janusz Tomaszewski, former deputy prime minister and interior minister from 1997-1999, who was dramatically cleared by Poland's Lustration Court of charges that he had been an informer for the communist secret police. Yet the prospect of his return has caused seeming chaos and panic among many of Poland's governing politicians, who today are running a political ship that has changed much since Tomaszewski was forced to resign almost 18 months ago.
Those unfamiliar with Tomaszewski's name will be unaware of the huge influence he wielded within the government of Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek before his removal. Originally, Tomaszewski had been an activist in the Solidarity trade union, before moving into politics in the mid-1990s, becoming the chief organizer and fundraiser for the Solidarity Election Action (AWS) campaign in 1997. After the elections he became deputy prime minister and interior minister, and one of the most powerful men in Buzek's cabinet, building up an empire of influence within the government as well as within the broader AWS movement. Naturally he became the focal point for inner-party criticism, especially from those who suspected him of muddying the dividing line between political and business interests. When Poland's public-interest spokesman lodged a case against him in the Lustration Court, accusing him of being a collaborator of the communist secret police, his party rivals seized the opportunity to eject him from his state and AWS party posts. Now Tomaszewski is back, and looking for revenge.
Despite his removal from public office, Tomaszewski over the last year retained significant influence within AWS through his coterie of supporters, grouped in the so-called "cooperative" faction of the movement. He also maintained good links with the Solidarity trade union, especially in his home city of Lodz. Many of his supporters pointed to AWS's decline in electoral fortunes as having commenced almost at the same time as his exile, and draw the conclusion that what AWS lacks today is a politically ruthless operator able to discipline party ranks, much as Leszek Miller interestingly also from Lodz has managed to do as leader of the opposition Democratic Left Alliance (SLD). Now Tomaszewski has been exonerated, they are demanding not only apologies from those who deserted him in his hour of need, but also a formal return to previous jobs and posts.
But the truth is that politics on the right has moved on since 1999 and Tomaszewski's return has the potential to further destabilize a political scene already rocked by infighting. Take AWS itself. Although Tomaszewski's return was urged by the AWS Social Movement- (RS AWS) faction of the broader AWS movement, their eagerness to welcome their mentor back was instantly rebuffed by other AWS MPs who demanded Tomaszewski's formal expulsion from the grouping as having brought it into disrepute. Similarly, while some government ministers, such as current Deputy Prime Minister Janusz Steinhoff, felt Tomaszewski should come back, others such as Justice Minister Lech Kaczynski were privately fuming.
Until last month, had AWS as a party turned against Tomaszewski, he would literally have had nowhere to go. But now, that is not the case. In a surprise statement last week, Parliamentary Speaker Maciej Plazynski, one of the leaders of the newly formed Civic Platform (PO), the new center movement that has made such an impact in the opinion polls, publicly stated that the PO would be willing to cooperate with Tomaszewski. Yet this statement in turn led to the first public division between PO leaders, when co-leader Donald Tusk distanced himself from Plazynski's remarks.
The truth is that whatever Tomaszewski decides to do, he has the potential to further fragment the right. Were he to pursue his determination to return to positions of real influence inside AWS, expect to see a wave of departures from those politicians like the former head of the prime minister's chancellery Wieslaw Walendziak who have a deep suspicion and dislike of Tomaszewski. Such a return might, indeed, tip the scales within the National Conservative Alliance (SKL) a constituent party inside AWS in favor of those wanting to leave for PO. Conversely, a Tomaszewski presence inside PO would involve Tomaszewski drawing his supporters out of AWS, while potentially forcing the departure of some high-level figures active in PO.
In recent years, the axis that has divided the parties of the right has shifted between ideology and political strategy, after a period when the right was divided along attitudes to former President Lech Walesa. Now, we may be entering a period when once again the fault lines of Polish politics will shift, this time around the supporters and enemies of Janusz Tomaszewski. To have evolved from political nonentity to political focal point in the space of a couple of days is no mean feat, but one achieved by Tomaszewski. Whatever his ultimate place in politics, he will surely savor this moment of triumph over those who thought he would never again influence the Polish political scene.
Marek Matraszek is the Warsaw director of CEC Government Relations. He can be e-mailed at director@cec.com.pl
