We are the masters now
It did not take long for Prime Minister Leszek Miller to show who was in charge of Poland. In the days leading up to his induction as prime minister on Oct. 19, he and his Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) colleagues had been on their best behavior in relation to the previous government and former Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek. Miller even found time to take tea with the soon-to-be-ex-prime minister, ostensibly to discuss the mechanics of the handover of power. In reality, it is more likely that he was treating it as a necessary irritant in the last few days before finally claiming the prize that he so spectacularly won in last month's elections.
When the Solidarity Election Action (AWS) alliance came to power four years ago, it was different story. In terms of verbal statements and political behavior, then AWS leaders gave the impression of being on the warpath with the SLD, barely stomaching the fact of having to consort with President Aleksander Kwaśniewski in the days before and after taking office. Yet in practice, their treatment of their predecessors in office was the reverse: keeping in place many deputy ministers and department heads that were linked to the SLD. In the case of the Economy Ministry, it took Janusz Steinhoff three years to remove a deputy minister nominated by his predecessor.
The SLD, on the other hand, seems to understand what politics is all about. Behind the smiles and handshakes with Buzek, Miller and his colleagues were planning a massive purge of Poland's government of AWS influence. Within days of taking office, most of the ministries have seen a wholesale clearout of state secretaries and deputy ministers, with new nominations ready instantly as replacements. Deputy ministers have been sacked regardless of their track record, as have heads of regulatory agencies, such as the hapless boss of one who returned from a bathroom break to find his successor already sitting behind his desk with a letter of dismissal in his hand.
The process of the SLD takeover of the institutions of state was particularly evident in Parliament. Although the government coalition is formally only between the SLD and the Peasants Party (PSL), in Parliament the coalition apparently extends to include also the radical Self-Defense (SO) peasant movement, run by Andrzej Lepper. Together, the three parties - with the help of the small Labor Union (UP) party - teamed up to force through a parliamentary presidium that excluded the two main right-wing parties in Parliament, but included Lepper himself, and allow Miller to control the parliamentary agenda. Next came the turn of the parliamentary committees, which again - apart from a few exceptions - were carved up between the governing coalition.
The greatest controversy last week came with a quick move by Miller to take charge of Poland's intelligence services. Ever since 1990, and the abolition of the old communist intelligence organization, the SLD has never felt comfortable with the way the Office of State Security (UOP) has been run, suspecting it of conspiring against the left. Prior to taking office, Miller together with Zdzisław Siemiątkowski, former intelligence services coordinator, announced their plan to abolish Poland's existing services and set up new domestic and foreign intelligence services. The day after taking office, however, Kwaśniewski announced his opposition to the plan after having received messages of concern from the United States about the implications for Poland's ability to fulfill its role in the anti-terrorist alliance were it to neuter its special services at such a crucial time.
Miller, however, seems determined to push his program through. Again in Parliament, the SLD-PSL-SO alliance pushed through membership of the Intelligence Services Committee giving the governing coalition control, and excluded other parliamentary parties from membership. Despite their own unwillingness to go, Miller also persuaded the heads of both civilian and military intelligence to resign. The ex-head UOP, Zbigniew Nowek, went public in raising concerns about Poland disarming her services at a time of international danger.
In the government itself, Miller made moves to entrench his own direct power by ensuring that key nominations at the level of secretary of state in governmental ministries were Miller loyalists, and to balance out the influence that he suspects new Finance Minister Marek Belka - whose ultimate loyalty is to Kwaśniewski, not to Miller - will be seeking to exert. Under previous administrations, governmental decisions were first cleared by working groups such as the Economic Committee of the Council of Ministers. Now these committees have been abolished, to be replaced by a single committee made up of these very secretaries of state, who in terms of their background are longstanding senior SLD activists, with Marek Belka at their head. This will prove to be a fascinating arrangement: Belka will be hoping to use his influence at this level to block or veto decisions that burden the state budget at a time of financial crisis. But it may turn out that Miller's allies at the secretary of state level will be strong enough to overrule Belka's ambitions.
Only a week has passed since the new government took charge. But it has already achieved what Buzek failed to achieve in four years, that is, ensure that the office of the prime minister ran the country, and not a coterie of union bosses or party hacks. As the next few weeks unfold, the next key question will be asked: With this power, how will Miller exercise it? Watch this space.
Marek Matraszek is the Warsaw director of CEC Government Relations. He can be e-mailed at director@cec.com.pl
Marek Matraszek
