SLD - the first report card
Despite quickly constituting a government by securing the support of the Peasants Party (PSL), the Miller administration made a surprisingly shaky start. On public finances it claimed to be surprised at the size of the deficit. On education it prevaricated and delayed the changes to the metriculation exam curriculum made by the previous government. On health the new minister, Mariusz Łapiński, managed to alienate both the medical profession and the public by making unsubstantiated claims over the price of medicines and recentralization of the public health services. In the justice department the appointment of the non-party political judge Barbara Piwnik surprisingly led to a slowdown in reform.
On the upside there was a definite speeding up and greater determination in moving forward the process of negotiations over EU membership. There was also commendable discipline within the SLD over delivering a cautious budget to stabilize public finances and a welcome, especially by employers, liberalization of Poland's labor laws.
Miller is a seasoned campaigner and showed that he had no fears in moving ministers who he felt were not performing. He managed to persuade both Marek Belka, the finance minister and Andrzej Celiński, the culture minister to resign, and he sacked Piwnik from the Justice Ministry. The return of Grzegorz Kołodko as finance minister, however controversial, has succeeded in tapping into public support for Self-Defense leader Andrzej Lepper. Kołodko's policies of instituting a register of assets and of forgiving debts to public companies are, after all, in line with Lepper's demands.
Miller has exploited used the animosity between Lepper's party and his coalition partner PSL. As a result he has been able to get Lepper to back him on issues where the PSL did not want to do so. This has left the SLD triumphant on issues such as changes in the electoral system favoring large parties and a watered-down version of the vetting law to protect its members who had cooperated with the former secret police. The downside of this is that Lepper has remained center-stage. But for the SLD this is good because Lepper is an ideal bogey man for frightening moderate voters into voting for the incumbent government. If Lepper didn't exist the SLD would need to invent him, which many claim they actually did in the first place.
Despite remaining dominant on Poland's political scene, which may have more to do with the weakness of the opposition than with SLD brilliance, not everything is going well for the government. Containment of public spending is no substitute for serious reform of public finances, especially the state agencies and funds. Micro initiatives to help the unemployed and small business are welcome but are no substitute for reducing the tax burden. Centralizing the health service and putting off modernizing education will do little to help improve public services. Additional taxes on motorists give the public no guarantee of building and improving Poland's atrocious road network. The railways remain a seedy overmanned disaster area about which nothing is being done.
However, the most worrying thing about this administration is its desire to bring so many walks of life under state control. Privatization is being stalled so that more rather than less of the economy can stay in state hands. The electronic media bill has been brought before the Sejm so that the government-controlled radio and TV remain dominant on the electronic media market. Now an NGO law is being proposed that is to give the labor minister the arbitrary power of adding or deleting NGOs from the proposed list of recognized charities. If you are not on that list you will not be able to bid for state funds or to benefit from tax write-offs. In this way the power of the "magic pen" could be used to reward government-friendly organizations and to punish the "doubters."
This government seems to be far keener on controlling things than on alleviating poverty or improving public services. In this way it betrays its roots. The communists were never opposed to the welfare state but felt that it was never enough. State power over the economy was required to ensure social justice. It is curious that this government has come up with so few initiatives on the alleviation of poverty and on public services. The argument that "we just don't have the money" is an excuse. The public purse is not cast in stone. Even without raising taxes public spending could be reoriented away from subsidies to the state sector. If there is a will a way can be found. It is interesting that this will isn't really there.
