Welcome back Mr. Krzaklewski we've been expecting you
Poland is nothing but a country of comeback politicians: no sooner than it seems that a politician is finished, does he make a reappearance, usually more quickly than most people would expect. The latest example of this phenomenon is Marian Krzaklewski, who despite having lost his presidential bid as well as the leadership of Solidarity Election Action (AWS), looks intent on spending the next six months once again influencing the shape of the Polish political scene.
It is hard to believe that only six months ago, Krzaklewski was regarded as the most powerful man in Polish politics. In previous years he had built up a swathe of functions, such as chairman of the Solidarity trade union, the head of the AWS political movement, and chairman of the AWS parliamentary club, to name but a few. He was also possessed for much of the 1997-2000 period of an aura of success, deriving from his historic role in 1996-1997 in bringing together the disparate factions of the Polish right under the AWS umbrella, before guiding them to political victory in the 1997 parliamentary elections. Thanks to his "special relationship" with Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek, it was essentially Krzaklewski who made many of the key decisions in the Buzek government, and who either personally or through a series of loyalists controlled a number of key ministries, such as the Treasury Ministry.
However, as AWS' political fortunes as registered in poll ratings began to wane, so Krzaklewski's influence began to fall as well, derived as it was in part from the belief that regardless of how unpalatable he was to some, at least he was capable of delivering electoral success. Krzaklewski's formal political power derived from his position in AWS, yet this too finally gave way following his poor showing in last year's presidential elections when he managed to come in third behind both current President Aleksander Kwasniewski and leader of the recently created Civic Platform (PO) Andrzej Olechowski. Krzaklewski's failure led to a protracted internal power struggle inside AWS that finally led to his resignation as leader and the formal handing over of power to its current set of political leaders under the overall guidance of Buzek.
For a couple of months, little was heard of Krzaklewski. He retreated to tend his wounds, and turned to his closest associates in the Solidarity trade union that he still led for short-term support. Many assumed that he would return to his union roots for good, and insofar as influencing day-to-day politics, do so from the sidelines. Yet the past couple of weeks have seen the emergence of Krzaklewski as a powerful force shaping the future of the Polish right. This time, however, he may well be remembered not as the man who brought unity to the right, but rather as the politician who was ultimately responsible for its final disintegration.
Much of Krzaklewski's revived political activity is driven by the desire to stop the political renaissance of Janusz Tomaszewski, former deputy prime minister and interior minister who was spectacularly cleared last month of charges that he had lied under Poland's vetting procedure about purported links with the former communist secret police. Tomaszewski had been removed from government and AWS, largely at the behest of Krzaklewski himself, when the accusation was first made by the country's public interest ombudsman in 1999. Upon his clearance, Tomaszewski made an immediate play to return to formal power by seeking first his former post of secretary general of the AWS Social Movement (RS AWS) party, and secondly last week, the post of chairman of the AWS election campaign. In both attempts, Tomaszewski was successfully blocked by Krzaklewski and his allies, fearing for their political fate under a Tomaszewski regime inside AWS.
Despite his failures, Tomaszewski retains one ace up his sleeve, namely the upcoming extraordinary party congress of RS AWS, scheduled for late May, when he will make a concerted attempt to lead the party in place of Buzek. Krzaklewski's activities now are designed to stop this maneuver from succeeding.
In the short term, Krzaklewski has been lobbying for AWS to run in the upcoming elections in alliance with the more right-wing Movement for the Reconstruction of Poland (ROP), led by former Prime Minister Jan Olszewski, as well as the two new right-wing movements founded by Justice Minister Lech Kaczynski and Culture Minister Kazimierz Ujazdowski respectively. The theme of such a campaign would be anti-corruption and law and order, but more importantly it would result in a political constellation that would eliminate Tomaszewski from the fray, since all these entities are bitterly opposed to him. Should that effort fail, however, and Tomaszewski succeed in ousting Buzek at the May congress, watch for Krzaklewski to pull off a high-risk strategy, namely trying to withdraw the Solidarity trade union from AWS altogether and creating a separate electoral list in opposition to a Tomaszewski-led AWS. Even more dramatically, Krzaklewski claims to own the AWS trademark and may even seek to register a separate party under that name with only his allies as members.
By the end of 2001, therefore, Polish politics will have come full circle, with a divided right giving way to a Democratic Left Alliance (SLD)-led government. In both cases Krzaklewski will have been in the center of events, leading the charge against the post communists. But whereas in 1997 it was at the head of a united center-right, in 2001 it may well be as the head of a rump party, a perverse mirror image of what might have been.
Marek Matraszek is the Warsaw director of CEC Government Relations. He can be e-mailed at director@cec.com.pl (mailto:director@cec.com.pl)
