In The Driver's Seat

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It could have happened to anybody, anytime, but for Tadeusz Mazowiecki the moment was rich with irony. The tall Solidarity official had just wound up meetings with President Jaruzelski and Jozef Cardinal Glemp last week when his car sputtered to a halt. When questioned by reporters about the difficulties he would face as Poland's new Prime Minister, Mazowiecki answered, "My biggest problem is that I ran out of gas."

The comment was a rare flash of public humor from a man who at times has been perceived as taciturn, even dour. No one, however, questions Mazowiecki's integrity or the depth of his commitment to Solidarity. Perhaps as important, says an old friend, Adam Bromke, "he is a man who has the courage to say what is unpopular." Born in the central Polish town of Plock, Mazowiecki (pronounced Mah-zoh-vyet-skee), 62, is a devout Roman Catholic with strong ties to church activists who oppose Communist ideology. A close adviser to Lech Walesa, Mazowiecki helped form the union in 1980 and was jailed for a year after the government crackdown in 1981. Trained as a lawyer, he is editor of the union weekly, Tygodnik Solidarnosc, and was a key negotiator in the round-table talks that led to legalization of Solidarity and opposition participation in last June's elections.

A father of three sons, whose wife died of cancer in 1970, Mazowiecki is learning how to live in the media spotlight. When reporters asked who would serve in his government, he replied, "I have to think for a while. There is no time, but still I need some time." Then, as the cameras turned away, Mazowiecki seemed relieved. "Finally," he said, "I can have a smoke."