Solidarity Citizens' Committee
Encyclopedia
The Solidarity Citizens' Committee (Komitet Obywatelski "Solidarność", acronym KO "S"), also known as "Citizens' Electoral Committee" (Obywatelski Komitet Wyborczy), previously named "Citizens' Committee with Lech Wałęsa
" (Komitet Obywatelski przy Lechu Wałęsie) was an (initially semi-) legal political organisation of the democratic opposition in communist Poland
. Formed on 18 December 1988, it spontaneously evolved into a nationwide movement attracting a vast majority of supporters of radical political change in the country after the conclusion of the Round Table
talks (February 6 to April 4, 1989 and the announcement of semi-free general elections for 4 June that year.
The relaunched union weekly Tygodnik Solidarność
, then edited by Tadeusz Mazowiecki
, and the new Gazeta Wyborcza
(today Poland's largest daily paper), edited by Adam Michnik
and launched on 8 May 1989, became influential organs for the movement.
" (Sejm kontraktowy), the lower house of the Polish parliament
, were to be allocated by a free election. In the run-up to the election, the Citizens' Committee decided to nominate as many candidates in each constituency as there were seats democratically available.
The Round Table Agreement also included the restoration of a less powerful upper house of parliament, the Senate
, which had been abolished in 1946, to accommodate the opposition's demand for parliamentary representation. The new senate was to have 100 seats, all of which were to be allocated in a free election. The Citizens's Committee nominated a candidate for each seat.
In its campaigning, the Citizens' Committee relied on its "Electoral Paper" Gazeta Wyborcza, and election posters printed mostly unofficially by an extensive network of samizdat
print shops, which had been operating throughout the 1980s. Every candidate had an article in Gazeta Wyborcza
and posters showing them with the figurehead of the opposition, Wałęsa. There were other motifs, too, most famously perhaps the minimalist "High Noon" poster billing the election as the ultimate showdown between the government and the people.
Held in two ballots on June 4 and June 19, the election resulted in a landslide victory of the opposition organised in the Citizens' Committee, which won all 161 seats available to it in the Sejm, and 99 out of 100 seats in the senate. (The one remaining senate seat was won by an independent candidate, Henry Stoklosa.) The Committee's candidates won by a large margin in all constituencies, frequently receiving more than 90% of the votes.
It has to be noted, however, that independent, non-Committee candidates obtained a total of 40% of all votes not cast for the ruling Polish United Workers' Party
and its affiliates. Also, even in this historic "showdown" election, the turnout
was merely 62% in the first and 26% in the second ballot; low turnouts have remained a problem in all Polish elections since.
On August 25, 1989, the new "Contract Sejm" elected the Civil Committee's candidate Tadeusz Mazowiecki as prime minister
, making him the first ever non-communist head of government east of the Iron Curtain
, whereas the presidency remained in the hands of the ruling party.
As the Committee was not a typical political party but a rather spontaneously formed, loose organisation to facilitate and focus the opposition's pre-election efforts, it did not survive its own triumph for long. On 23 June 1989, the Committee candidates which found themselves in the Sejm formed the "Citizens' Parliamentary Party" (Obywatelski Klub Parlamentarny, OKP), which elected Bronisław Geremek as chairman.
However, political frictions soon occurred within in the OKP. Eventually, two rival factions emerged from the OKP and its political milieu: A more conservative and populist wing, which formed the party (Centre Agreement, PC) on 12 May 1990, led by Lech Kaczyński
, whereas the more liberal, "intellectual" wing represented by Geremek went on to form their own party Civic Movement 'Democratic Action'
(Ruch Obywatelski Akcja Demokratyczna, ROAD) which later evolved into the Democratic Union (Unia Demokratyczna, UD), Freedom Union
(Unia Wolności, UW) and most recently the Democratic Party
(Partia Demokratyczna (PD) also known as demokraci.pl). The split between Solidarity's conservative and liberal heirs became evident in the presidential election
of 1990, when the conservatives supported Wałęsa while the liberals nominated Mazowiecki as their own candidate. This cleavage continues to shape the Polish political landscape until this day.
Lech Wałęsa
Lech Wałęsa is a Polish politician, trade-union organizer, and human-rights activist. A charismatic leader, he co-founded Solidarity , the Soviet bloc's first independent trade union, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983, and served as President of Poland between 1990 and 95.Wałęsa was an electrician...
" (Komitet Obywatelski przy Lechu Wałęsie) was an (initially semi-) legal political organisation of the democratic opposition in communist Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
. Formed on 18 December 1988, it spontaneously evolved into a nationwide movement attracting a vast majority of supporters of radical political change in the country after the conclusion of the Round Table
Polish Round Table Agreement
The Polish Round Table Talks took place in Warsaw, Poland from February 6 to April 4, 1989. The government initiated the discussion with the banned trade union Solidarność and other opposition groups in an attempt to defuse growing social unrest.-History:...
talks (February 6 to April 4, 1989 and the announcement of semi-free general elections for 4 June that year.
The relaunched union weekly Tygodnik Solidarność
Tygodnik Solidarnosc
Tygodnik Solidarność is Polish conservative newspaper. Started and published by the Solidarity movement on 3 April 1981, it was banned by the People's Republic of Poland following the martial law declaration from 13 December 1981 and the thaw of 1989...
, then edited by Tadeusz Mazowiecki
Tadeusz Mazowiecki
Tadeusz Mazowiecki is a Polish author, journalist, philanthropist and Christian-democratic politician, formerly one of the leaders of the Solidarity movement, and the first non-communist prime minister in Central and Eastern Europe after World War II.-Biography:Mazowiecki comes from a Polish...
, and the new Gazeta Wyborcza
Gazeta Wyborcza
Gazeta Wyborcza is a leading Polish newspaper. It covers the gamut of political, international and general news. Like all the Polish newspapers, it is printed on compact-sized paper, and is published by the multimedia corporation Agora SA...
(today Poland's largest daily paper), edited by Adam Michnik
Adam Michnik
Adam Michnik is the editor-in-chief of Gazeta Wyborcza, where he sometimes writes under the pen-names of Andrzej Zagozda or Andrzej Jagodziński. In 1966–1989 he was one of the leading organizers of the illegal, democratic opposition in Poland...
and launched on 8 May 1989, became influential organs for the movement.
History
According to the Round Table Agreement, 35%, i.e. 161 out of 460 seats in the so-called "Contract SejmSejm
The Sejm is the lower house of the Polish parliament. The Sejm is made up of 460 deputies, or Poseł in Polish . It is elected by universal ballot and is presided over by a speaker called the Marshal of the Sejm ....
" (Sejm kontraktowy), the lower house of the Polish parliament
Parliament
A parliament is a legislature, especially in those countries whose system of government is based on the Westminster system modeled after that of the United Kingdom. The name is derived from the French , the action of parler : a parlement is a discussion. The term came to mean a meeting at which...
, were to be allocated by a free election. In the run-up to the election, the Citizens' Committee decided to nominate as many candidates in each constituency as there were seats democratically available.
The Round Table Agreement also included the restoration of a less powerful upper house of parliament, the Senate
Senate of Poland
The Senate is the upper house of the Polish parliament, the lower house being the 'Sejm'. The history of the Polish Senate is rich in tradition and stretches back over 500 years, it was one of the first constituent bodies of a bicameral parliament in Europe and existed without hiatus until the...
, which had been abolished in 1946, to accommodate the opposition's demand for parliamentary representation. The new senate was to have 100 seats, all of which were to be allocated in a free election. The Citizens's Committee nominated a candidate for each seat.
Samizdat
Samizdat was a key form of dissident activity across the Soviet bloc in which individuals reproduced censored publications by hand and passed the documents from reader to reader...
print shops, which had been operating throughout the 1980s. Every candidate had an article in Gazeta Wyborcza
Gazeta Wyborcza
Gazeta Wyborcza is a leading Polish newspaper. It covers the gamut of political, international and general news. Like all the Polish newspapers, it is printed on compact-sized paper, and is published by the multimedia corporation Agora SA...
and posters showing them with the figurehead of the opposition, Wałęsa. There were other motifs, too, most famously perhaps the minimalist "High Noon" poster billing the election as the ultimate showdown between the government and the people.
Held in two ballots on June 4 and June 19, the election resulted in a landslide victory of the opposition organised in the Citizens' Committee, which won all 161 seats available to it in the Sejm, and 99 out of 100 seats in the senate. (The one remaining senate seat was won by an independent candidate, Henry Stoklosa.) The Committee's candidates won by a large margin in all constituencies, frequently receiving more than 90% of the votes.
It has to be noted, however, that independent, non-Committee candidates obtained a total of 40% of all votes not cast for the ruling Polish United Workers' Party
Polish United Workers' Party
The Polish United Workers' Party was the Communist party which governed the People's Republic of Poland from 1948 to 1989. Ideologically it was based on the theories of Marxism-Leninism.- The Party's Program and Goals :...
and its affiliates. Also, even in this historic "showdown" election, the turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
was merely 62% in the first and 26% in the second ballot; low turnouts have remained a problem in all Polish elections since.
On August 25, 1989, the new "Contract Sejm" elected the Civil Committee's candidate Tadeusz Mazowiecki as prime minister
Prime minister
A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...
, making him the first ever non-communist head of government east of the Iron Curtain
Iron Curtain
The concept of the Iron Curtain symbolized the ideological fighting and physical boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1989...
, whereas the presidency remained in the hands of the ruling party.
As the Committee was not a typical political party but a rather spontaneously formed, loose organisation to facilitate and focus the opposition's pre-election efforts, it did not survive its own triumph for long. On 23 June 1989, the Committee candidates which found themselves in the Sejm formed the "Citizens' Parliamentary Party" (Obywatelski Klub Parlamentarny, OKP), which elected Bronisław Geremek as chairman.
However, political frictions soon occurred within in the OKP. Eventually, two rival factions emerged from the OKP and its political milieu: A more conservative and populist wing, which formed the party (Centre Agreement, PC) on 12 May 1990, led by Lech Kaczyński
Lech Kaczynski
Lech Aleksander Kaczyński was Polish lawyer and politician who served as the President of Poland from 2005 until 2010 and as Mayor of Warsaw from 2002 until 22 December 2005. Before he became a president, he was also a member of the party Prawo i Sprawiedliwość...
, whereas the more liberal, "intellectual" wing represented by Geremek went on to form their own party Civic Movement 'Democratic Action'
Ruch Obywatelski Akcja Demokratyczna
The Citizens' Movement for Democratic Action was a market-socialist and political party in Poland. The party was centrist-socialist on economic issues and conservative to moderate-conservative on social issues...
(Ruch Obywatelski Akcja Demokratyczna, ROAD) which later evolved into the Democratic Union (Unia Demokratyczna, UD), Freedom Union
Freedom Union (Poland)
The Freedom Union was a liberal democratic party in Poland. It was founded on March 20, 1994 out of the merger of the Democratic Union and the Liberal Democratic Congress . Both of these parties had roots in the Solidarity trade union movement. It represented European democratic and liberal...
(Unia Wolności, UW) and most recently the Democratic Party
Democratic Party (Poland)
The Democratic Party is a Polish centrist party. The party faced a revival in 2009, when it was joined by liberal politician Paweł Piskorski, formerly member of Civic Platform.-History:The party was established on April 15, 1939...
(Partia Demokratyczna (PD) also known as demokraci.pl). The split between Solidarity's conservative and liberal heirs became evident in the presidential election
Polish presidential election, 1990
The 1990 Presidential elections were held in Poland on Sunday, November 25 , and Sunday, December 9 . These were the first direct presidential elections in the history of Poland. Before World War II, presidents were elected by the Sejm, but the Sejm was abolished in 1952. The leader of the...
of 1990, when the conservatives supported Wałęsa while the liberals nominated Mazowiecki as their own candidate. This cleavage continues to shape the Polish political landscape until this day.