The winner takes it all: Tusk supporters shut out as Geremek voted UW head

Former Foreign Minister Bronislaw Geremek was elected head of the Freedom Union on Saturday, beating his opponent Donald Tusk by 338 votes to 261. Such results were expected as Geremek is a more experienced and better known politician. However, what happened afterwards was a major surprise, most of all to Tusk. The liberal faction of UW, supporters of Tusk, only obtained 2 seats on the 100-member National Council of the party. As many UW members admitted, Tusk supporters were discriminated against. Despite this, both Geremek and Tusk emphasized the will of maintaining unity within the party. Geremek is considered to be less liberal and right-winged than his younger rival. Andrzej Olechowski, runner-up in the 2000 presidential election, was a special guest at the convention. He declared his will to cooperate with UW and asked it to consider partnership with other organizations, including the National Conservative Alliance (SKL). (Gazeta Wyborcza, p.1) M.K.