"Government Watch": All things must pass

Ever since 1989, one of the most common perceptions among politicians has been that he who controls the media, controls political power. Patently false though that all may be, it is a view that persists to this day - on both sides of the political spectrum - and explains some of the more mysterious maneuverings on the political stage. Enter Gazeta Wyborcza. Back in 1989, with the fall of communism, Wyborcza was established under the editorship of Adam Michnik, one of the most famous dissident intellectuals active in the anticommunist movements of the 1970s and 1980s. Over the years Michnik and his team were able to build up Wyborcza into a powerful media empire, under the aegis of the Agora company, which is now a multimedia holding company controlling a turnover of millions of dollars per year. Michnik, for his part, has established himself not only as a controversial editor but also as a quasi-political kingmaker.

It is difficult for observers to understand the degree of emotion that Michnik provokes among his political opponents both on the left and the right of politics. On the one hand, Michnik is an avowed opponent of Poland's right, himself being a child of the countercultural leftist ideologies prevalent among radical movements in the 1960s. Although over the years he has garnered an aura of a respected "European" intellectual, at heart he remains a maverick, suspicious of national identity and the Polish Catholic Church. At the same time, he openly admits that he and his newspaper have one strategic goal: to ensure Polish membership in the European Union, which he feels to be the ultimate guarantor that Poland will finally be "civilized," in a consensual, social-democratic European home. Not surprisingly, Poland's right-wing politicians despise him, all the more so because in his urgency to defeat what he sees as right-wing bogies, Michnik has often taken up a position of whitewashing former communists and openly supporting the idea of "reconciliation" with former bosses.

However, it is not only among the right that Michnik raises hackles. Also among his opponents is the current government under Prime Minister Leszek Miller. Michnik has made no secret through his newspaper that he is opposed to Miller, and he has unleashed his journalists in a series of articles that are highly damaging to the new government. One man, however, remains immune to Michnik's critical analysis: President Aleksander Kwaśniewski. Michnik's close personal relationship with Kwaśniewski is an open secret, and Michnik sees in Kwaśniewski the truest example of his ideal politician: A reformed ex-communist who is a genuine social-democrat, liberal in his world view and progressive in his ultimate aims. And when the paper opened its spanking new headquarters a few months back, who should be the guest of honor but the president himself. Not surprisingly, this relationship has not gone unnoticed by the prime minister, who suspects a deeper strategic plot by both men to unseat Miller in due course and install a head of government who is closer to Kwaśniewski. Almost every politician in town holds to this scenario.

So it was no surprise in the last couple of weeks to see the government forward to Parliament legislation amending the current Radio and Television Law that would tighten up rules on cross-media ownership, specifically forbidding national newspapers from owning national television stations. Fair enough, until it is realized that the only national newspaper with such ambitions is … correct, Gazeta Wyborcza and the Agora company, secretly seeking a buyout of the troubled Polsat national television station. And what was even more fascinating was the open objection by the president's spokesman that the presidential chancellery had not been consulted about the legislation, with the clear implication that it was opposed. Warsaw political gossip now speaks of a clear rift developing between Kwaśniewski and Miller, with the stake being real political power in the country. How that struggle develops will affect not only the fate of Poland's media market but the future power of Michnik as well.

None of which has very much to do with the title of what is my last "Government Watch" for the WBJ. The last six-and-half years have been a tremendous roller-coaster ride not only for Poland but also for me personally. Hopefully my jottings have made the ride easier for some of you at least. I will not be disappearing entirely but writing in the future in a more detached mode, while the details of the weekly battles will be more than ably analyzed by my successor Chris Mularczyk. Those who have been able to read between the lines of my comments will be reassured to know that I am confident that Chris, too, will be providing a right-of-center perspective on Polish politics. Hats off to the WBJ for living up to the slogan of defending the pluralism of ideas - an example that others in Poland would do well to follow.

Marek Matraszek is the Warsaw director of CEC Government Relations. He can be e-mailed at director@cec.com.pl.