Coalition not possible between Poland's post Solidarity groups
Warsaw, Poland April 9, 2006 - The leader of Poland's ruling political party Law and Justice, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, while speaking at a press conference yesterday stated that a coalition with the opposition party Civic Platform was not possible because his party had a different view of the state than the party of Civic Platform.
Both Law and Justice and the Civic Platform are children of Poland ' s Solidarity movement that brought communism down in the 1980 ' s. But even though they were part of Solidarity and fought a common enemy they have fundamental differences in their ideas of the state and that have been masked until the development of the makeup of the Polish parliament as it is today . As long as there has been a common enemy, communists or ex rulers of the Communist Party, members of Law and Justice Party and the Civic Platform have been able to work together on some matters. But now as these two parties become the dominant parties in the Polish parliament their basic irreconcilable differences become apparent.
The Solidarity movement brought together people from all walks of life to fight the then ruling communists. The common enemy was the communists and not the underlying socialist system. While some wanted a destruction of the underlying system others wanted a modification to increase their say and their share of the benefits of the system.
One group became strong supporters of free-market principles. They rejected the tenets of communism as well as the communist themselves. They strove to move the country away from central planning and control to a free-market system. They did not reject socialism completely but they moved to make the country investor and business friendly. This group was willing to put the country into a period of shock therapy in order to shake it from the lethargy induced by communism.
Another group rejected communism so far as it went to single party control of the state and the rejection of religion. It wanted an improvement in its conditions but it did not want to give up all the benefits that it had had under communism. It wanted communism in the workplace but capitalism at the dinner table. This group also accepted the dominance of the Roman Catholic religion in their daily lives.
Today the political party, Civic Platform, is essentially made up of the Solidarity people who are free market oriented. The party is made up of members of the various religious and lifestyles. The party is made up of people who practice different religions and different lifestyles.
The political party, Law and Justice, on the other hand, is essentially made up of the people who still wish the state to be heavily involved in their lives and for the state to provide many of the benefits that were available to them under communism. This party has been described as a party of the right. But this Party is actually a party of the left many of whose members are fundamentalist Roman Catholic.
To many in Poland there were glory days of communism. A significant number of Polish people demonstrate pangs of nostalgia for days like those best of days under communist Premier Gierek. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Gierek. True to human nature they have forgotten the bad and remember only the good.
To these people a free market economy is neither what they want nor what they expect out of the government. They are a leftist, conservative Catholic base of voters who want the benefits of the old communist system. They have a conveniently forgotten the bad times under communism and remember only the great days of Edward Gierek. The people in this group make up a large portion of the voter base of the Law and Justice Party.
During the seven month set the Law and Justice Party has been in the ruling position in the Polish government they have shown their desires to concentrate power in the central government and to control the economy from the top. They have set out on a path to destroy the system that has controlled the country since the downfall of communism. That system has been controlled by people from various political parties who have supported the free market system. They must destroy in this system to recreate the state.
The Law and Justice Party wants to create a fourth republic and initiate a moral revolution in the country. But it is only in a minority position in the Polish parliament and for it to accomplish its goals it must go into coalition with other parties. But For Law and Justice to go into coalition with Civic Platform the party leaders would have to violate their basic philosophy as to how the state should be run . And they have not been willing to violate those principles.
Many people are shocked that the Law and Justice party is considering a coalition with the radical left party Samoobrona as well as other parties on the left. It is, however, more natural for the Law and Justice Party and to look to the left than it is too look to the right to a party such as the Civic Platform.
But the Law and Justice Party may contain some people who are conservative Catholic yet are still free market oriented. As the actual coalition between the Law and Justice Party and Samoobrona approaches reality, it remains to be seen how many within Law and Justice Party are willing to go with their party farther to the left than it is now.
In any case, one cannot expect any coalition with the Civic Platform, because a coalition between the Civic Platform and the Law and Justice Party is as natural as a mix of oil and water.
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