Singing the Wasacz blues
Good news came last week in the form of a blip on the Reuters screen that Treasury Minister Emil Wasacz will probably stick around long enough to see through the privatization of Telekomunikacja Polska (TPSA). With the France Telecom and Kulczyk Holding consortium waiting to pay $4 billion into the national coffers for a 35% share of the telephone giant, Wasacz's presence bodes well for the nation's pocketbook, at least in the short term.
But in the long term, the fact that the fate of Wasacz in office remains unclear unfortunately signals that this minority Solidarity Election Action (AWS) government will probably not be any stronger on its own than in its partnership with the Freedom Union (UW).
The absence of either singular backing or unqualified disapprobation of Wasacz means that we're probably in for more of the same, just as Wasacz will continue to be both a victim and an agent of frailty and strife.
Up to now, Wasacz and his army of deputy ministers have all fallen prey to AWS, a political hybrid that remains highly fragmented and has much opposition within its ranks. Their party's internecine struggle blocked the rapid and successful privatization of the nation's sugar sector and led to the ongoing stalemate in dealing with sensitive issues such as enfranchisement and property restitution. And the government has been too weak to lend Wasacz the necessary support to do his job well.
But Wasacz himself has not risen above the sludge and proven himself worthy of his government's unilateral support. On the contrary, controversy and scandal have continuously shrouded Wasacz's ministry and stained the government's bid to govern.
The 1998 sale of Domy Towarowe Centrum is a case in point. To this day it is not clear where the interest of the nation lies in selling the shopping center at a price below the value of the land it was located on. Similarly, no transparent, confident explanation has ever been made as to why Wasacz, without consultation, decided to allow Eureko to increase its 20% holding in Powszechny Zaklad Ubezpieczen to 40-45% without a public tender.
Parallel to the ongoing Wasacz saga, last week the last vestige of the failed AWS-UW marriage, Bronislaw Geremek, departed from his position as minister of foreign affairs. Geremek's decipherable, decisive and honorable actions strengthened not only Poland's position on the international arena, but also the government he was a part of.
With Geremek's departure, the government now has a chance to show that it is strong and capable - an unlikely outcome. How the government acts on Wasacz's behalf over the next month will serve as a litmus test as to whether this government's legacy will be similar to the one Geremek forged for himself or the one Wasacz has earned thus far.
