Tadeusz Mazowiecki leaves Freedom Union

Tadeusz Mazowiecki, the first Prime Minister after 1989 and head of the Demo cratic Union (UD) and later Freedom Union (UW) has left the party in protest of its pact with the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) and Labor Union (UP) in the Warmi sko-Mazurski region. Mazowiecki, who since his defeat by Balcerowi cz in 1995 has remained in the background, on his leaving said, "I am not le aving for another party. I would like to thank all my friends very much for all the years of co-operation and I hope we will remain life-long friends." Still, he stressed the fact that for some years the gap of misunderstanding between him and party authorities has been widening. Commenting on Mazowieck i's decision, the incumbent head of UW, Tadeusz Frasyniuk said, "I still bel ieve Mazowiecki is a member of Freedom Union." (Rzeczpospolita, p. A2) J.K.