History doesn't always repeat itself

   While Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek showed last week he is able to make firm, unpopular decisions, the move to appoint Andrzej Herman as emergency head of Warsaw's largest and richest gmina Centrum is more likely to create problems than solve them.

   The decision came as a result of Centrum's bad, or rather nonexistent, management. For several months, the gmina's deputies have not been able to reach agreement on any issue. The reason: Freedom Union (UW), a part of the national ruling coalition, decided to part ways with coalition partner Solidarity Election Action (AWS) on the local level and join forces with the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) instead. The result: an AWS boycott and subsequent charges that any resolutions voted on by the gmina council are illegal. The prime minister decided to solve the Gordian knot by appointing a "commissar" – a one-man show – to rule the uncooperative municipality.

   While the word commissar carries associations of rigid Bolshevik rulers, for Varsovians it also has a very positive meaning. Historically, the capital has had two commissars: Sokrates Starynkiewicz and Stefan Starzynski. The first ruled Warsaw for more than 20 years at the end of the 19th century and put in place a basic municipal infrastructure, including water supply, sewage system and phone lines. The second proved a brave leader in defense of Warsaw when World War II began.

   Unfortunately, what worked a century or half a century ago won't necessarily work now.

   Buzek's decision will start new conflicts within the ruling coalition. Warsaw Mayor Pawel Piskorski has already spoken about filing a lawsuit with the Supreme Administrative Court (NSA) in an interview for Polskie Radio. Considering he claims he has full UW support, local tensions are likely to migrate to central government levels, posing yet another threat to the fragile coalition.

   The appointment of a commissar also won't solve a much bigger problem: that Warsaw, under its present administrative structure, is simply unmanageable. The capital is divided into 11 gminas, each with their own deputies and management board. The largest, Centrum, consists of seven districts and their authorities. All 11 gminas constitute the "Capital City of Warsaw" and enjoy a high level of independence when it comes to administrative and financial decisions. And let's not forget the powiat, something between a gmina and the capital city, which overlaps with the latter. If anybody has an idea how this mammoth structure is supposed to work, we suggest applying for the commissar's job. Because under the present structure, Herman is not going to last.