Poland After
The Storm
Calm Returns To Poland As Polish Government Changes
Warsaw, Poland - 16 November, 2007 Shortly after the recent Polish elections a calm descended on Poland. Fighting and complaining politicians stopped dominating the news. The people are looking forward again. They are quietly waiting.
Experiencing the Kaczynski Government was like going through a bad storm. Everything was in turmoil. Things were being overturned. Turmoil dominated the news. There was no peace for the weary.
As the Kaczynski Government passes into history, things have changed.
The evening news is now longer the angry old men show. Andrzej Lepper and Jaroslaw Kaczynski are not trading accusations. Roman Giertych is not making outrageous comments. Jaroslaw Kaczynski is not threatening new elections. The tone of discussions with the EU has mellowed. Discussion rather than argument dominates.
And the new Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, in spite of Presidential objections to some of his choices of ministers, has moved forward quietly and calmly in forming his Government. His approval rating has soared to over 55%.
The people want to move forward.
According to a recent poll, 35 percent hope that the economic miracle promised by PO will drop unemployment, 25 percent hope that there will be an improvement in health services, 20 percent hope that there will be a reduction in taxes. Only 9 percent put fighting corruption on the top of the list. "Rzeczpospolita": wyzwania dla nowego rzadu
And the people are calmly watching the election results that come after the vote count.
Andrzej Lepper, without his Parliamentary immunity, is now defending himself in court. A Parliamentary Committee for the Special Services that is controlled by forces line up against Jaroslaw Kaczynski is getting ready to start investigating alleged abuses. Europe is looking at Poland with hope. Going are the perceptions of Poland as an uncultivated European Union potato patch.
Let there be no mistake. Poland is no rose garden and Polish politicians are, as soon as the effects of dekaczynskiing the Government wear off, likely to return to their old boisterous ways. But for now the calm is a definite relief for some.
Lech Walesa said that in 10 years people will have forgotten who Kaczynski was. Maybe he understands that a country is like the human body. It forgets what pain was like. It enjoys a comfortable atmosphere.
