He's here to stay

After the last election, when the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) won a landslide victory, it seemed as if Polish politics was heading for a period of humdrum stability. But that was before it became clear that politics over the next four years would be dominated by the unpredictable: not only in domestic and international policy, but also by the antics of the populist Self-Defense (SO) party and its maverick leader, Andrzej Lepper. That became crystal clear last week with the drama over Lepper's removal as deputy speaker of Parliament, and his speech to parliamentarians in which he revealed the names of politicians who he claimed had taken bribes, from whom and when. But any politicians thinking that his mere removal as deputy speaker solves the problem are mistaken.

The immediate scandal involving Lepper was started by the man himself, when the previous week he had made his subtle observation that Foreign Minister Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz was a "shit," whose communist father had murdered Poles in post-World War II Poland. That was the cue for Poland's media to launch a campaign for his removal as deputy speaker, and was the last straw for the SLD itself, which after all had voted him into the position in the first place. At the time of Lepper's nomination, there was great controversy not just because of his populist statements, but pending court cases on public order charges stretching back years. The SLD and Prime Minister Leszek Miller, however, saw that for tactical reasons there was a need to string Lepper along, to be able to play him off against the troublesome Peasants Party (PSL) at the time of the government's creation and first crucial votes in Parliament.

By attacking Cimoszewicz, Lepper overstepped the mark of what the SLD would find acceptable, especially since Cimoszewicz himself demanded from Miller that he act firmly to remove Lepper: After all, Cimoszewicz as justice minister in 1993 had instigated proceedings against Lepper, and had been one of only two SLD MPs to vote against his nomination as deputy speaker. But with his removal imminent, Lepper saw the opportunity he had been waiting for to wreak revenge against the SLD and the entire political class that he sees as having a vendetta against him. With TV cameras transmitting, he reeled off a list of names of past and present government ministers who he claimed had taken bribes, giving details of the sums, individuals, and locations involved. MPs were stunned into silence. The accused could only remain silent or issue denials.

When Lepper first appeared on the political scene, many argued that he was yet another flash-in-the-pan radical populist, the latest in a series of anti-establishment heroes that have come and gone in the last 10 years of politics. But a closer look reveals Lepper to be a more complicated beast. It is certainly true that Lepper feeds off the discontent caused by reform in the last 10 years, and the social dislocation that it has brought about. But whereas previous populists, such as the now-forgotten Stanisław Tymiński, drew their support from voters feeling the pain of the removal of socialist benefits, Lepper's support is also rooted in those of who have failed to make it under capitalism, or fear their gains under capitalism will be eroded by the forces of competition from globalization and European Union (EU) membership. The fact that a substantial part of Lepper's vote was urban, not only rural, backs that up, and also means that the dynamics feeding Lepper will be much more permanent than the short-term shock of the dismantling of the communist welfare state 10 years ago.

Even so, it is also true to say that a politician like Lepper would have had a more difficult time emerging had it not been for the direct and indirect efforts of the current political elite. There is much evidence to show that at various points in his rabble-rousing career, Lepper obtained moral and financial support from political parties and politicians across the board. Over the last 10 years, most politicians felt that although distasteful, Lepper had his uses, especially if they were in opposition and needed a radical in their pocket to make trouble for the ruling government. Conversely, thanks to the Byzantine system of hidden kickbacks concealed in Poland's system of agricultural subsidies, Lepper was offered soft money by ruling parties to keep him quiet when times were rough. Behind both strategies was the view that Lepper could be controlled and directed. Few if any politicians were prepared for the fact that Lepper would become bold enough to free himself from their tutelage.

Ultimately, however, politicians have only themselves to blame for Lepper in a deeper sense. The themes upon which Lepper has built his popularity - fear of the implications of EU membership and globalization, and now criticism of corruption - strike a deep chord in the electorate. Over the past few years, political elites have built up a climate of political correctness about the EU, force-feeding Poles with the view that criticism of the path to membership of the EU is tantamount to treason. Yet ordinary voters do fear the implications of increased competition, and are genuinely concerned about unrestricted rights of foreigners to own Polish land and property. With a lack of any other alternative to articulate these concerns, Lepper gets their support by default. Similarly, Lepper would not have been able to ride the horse of anti-corruption had not the political class cleaned up its own act years ago.

The paradox of the whole situation is that Lepper himself is charged with law-breaking, has suspiciously large resources at his disposal, and claims to be a defender of the people while at the same time undermining the institutions of democracy such as Parliament and the rule of law. The reaction of most politicians to Lepper is to feel that he can be finally silenced by depriving him of his parliamentary post and instigating criminal proceedings for slander. In the short term perhaps. But unless the political class draws lessons from its own role in his creation, Lepper will re-emerge, and if not him then someone else of his character - or worse.

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

Marek Matraszek