Poland is in the news for all the wrong reasons.
From the Wall Street Journal Europe to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Poland again made an international splash following last week's departure of Finance Minister Marek Belka.
(Too bad media hog Andrzej Lepper wasn't the one to announce he was leaving politics.)
In the past week, Belka, who quit his post citing exhaustion, has been characterized in a slew of ways, perhaps the most telling being the WSJ's reference to him as a "one-eyed king in the land of the blind."
But whatever one thinks of Belka's accomplishments during his eight months as finance minister, one thing is certain: He was one of the good guys. And while economists debate the impact of his untimely exit, he will be missed not only at home but also in international circles. Hence, all the ink.
As for his former boss, Prime Minister Leszek Miller, it's a pity for him that he can no longer blame the previous government for the bulk of Poland's ills. Those days are long gone.
Admittedly, Miller had a rough week. First he tried calling the European Union's bluff by banding together with Hungary and the Czech Republic and declaring that unless they were offered favorable EU entry terms, they wouldn't feel obliged to wrap up talks by the bloc's December deadline. More boldly he stated that it would be unthinkable for the EU to expand without Poland. And he's right. What would be the point if Slovakia, a country of five million were allowed in, but Poland's 38 million citizens were told to wait until 2007?
That assertion was promptly quashed by Denmark, the EU's new president, which countered that deadlines were deadlines and if Poland missed this one, it would have to wait another three years at least. The message? You've got one chance to accept our terms.
Next came the 2003 budget debate. While Miller has repeatedly stated EU membership to be his top policy goal, he has repeatedly ignored what it will take for Poland to get there and be competitive once it joins. Inflation is in check, but budget revenue isn't, so expanding the deficit - even by a few billion zlotys - to bolster short-term party support ahead of local elections is not the kind of medicine this country needs.
Poland desperately needs to show that it knows what it's doing, both at home and abroad, and the hasty departure of a well-respected finance minister like Belka doesn't inspire much confidence that it does. Rather than demonstrating that he's getting his act together, albeit slowly, Miller is proving that his policies are just as likely to lead Poland into the past than the future. The OECD's alarming annual report on Poland released last week attests to this.
Poles deserve better than their current leadership. Much better. The question is, are there any other "good guys" within the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD)-led government who are capable of generating some good press for themselves - and Poland?
