Walesa retires from politics following overwhelming election loss last week

Lech Walesa, the legendary founder of Solidarity, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate in 1983, and former President of Poland, announced his decision yesterday to leave politics as a result of his poor showing in last week's Presidential elections, in which he received less than 1% of the vote. Walesa expressed his disappointment at the final results, saying that the threat of a disaster for the right wing in the coming parliamentary elections is increasingly real, and "thus the creation of a strong centrist movement is a key factor in building a better Poland". (Rzeczpospolita, p.1