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Wojciech Jaruzelski Premier of Poland from 1981 to 1989, General Jaruzelski served as President from 1989 to 1990 To my mind, the most important event of the '80s was the creation of the Polish Roundtable in February 1989 [which led to a coalition government with the ruling communists and the Solidarity trade-union movement led by Lech Walesa]. It was significant for three reasons. First, it lifted a huge burden from my shoulders. Second, it created a situation in which the sharp confrontation between political forces ceased to exist; that was particularly important considering the fact that our national temperament had often led to bloodshed. Finally, Poland's peaceful transition from totalitarian rule set an example for other countries in the region and opened the way for political change in the East bloc. I, of course, give full credit to the role of Mikhail Gorbachev, my great friend to this day. He himself used to say our Polish reforms were a great laboratory for perestroika.
Originally, I thought that even after reform we would be a socialist country with a strong private sector. But the further we went, the more I understood that this was not realistic. As we approached the Roundtable, I knew it was necessary to drop the doctrine of dominant state ownership and control of the economy in order to make it clear that we were ready to share political power. There was very strong opposition in my own camp, but as President and
PHOTO CREDIT: CHRIS NIEDENTHAL FOR TIME |
