Kwasniewski says "stampede" stopped him from joining Solidarity in 1980

Incumbent President Aleksander Kwasniewski said in an interview yesterday that in 1980 he was close to joining the Solidarity trade union, but was discouraged by the "stampede" of people rushing to join. It is quite a surprising revelation, considering that at the time Kwasniewski was a member of the ruling Communist party. Kajus Augustyniak, spokesman for the presidential campaign of Marian Krzaklewski, said that Kwasniewski should apologize to 10 million people (Solidarity members in the 1980s) for using the term "stampede". However, Kwasniewski's campaign spokesman Dariusz Szymczycha replied that it is strange that Krzaklewski's spokesman should act in the name of 10 million people, as the number of signatures supporting Krzaklewski's presidential bid and his results in the polls do not show that he is representing that many voters. (Zycie, page 3)