CER | Poland: AWS and UW fear new Civic Platform

The creation of the Civic Platform caused major turbulence in both AWS and the UW, as their future electoral result may be seriously damaged. One of the AWS's main parties, the Conservative People's Party is pondering whether to leave the AWS to the Civic Platform, which would most probably lead to the demise of the AWS as a whole. The UW is also suffering from the sudden loss of some of its members, whom party leader Bronisław Geremek called "escapees."

24 January saw the first official convention of the Civic Platform and the presentation of its policy. The main points of the policy are liberalization of the economy, de-bureaucratization of local governments, prevention of corruption and the transparency of rules regarding the financing of political parties.

According to a poll, 23 per cent of respondents would be willing to support the Civic Platform. However, the questions were phrased in a general way, and did not ask people to choose from the existing political parties. Nonetheless, Andrzej Olechowski said the following at a press conference in Warsaw last week: "I treat this result as showing the amount of trust people have in us."

Civic Platform's current goal is to prepare for the parliamentary elections due to take place in September, unless the all-important budget bill fails to pass in the Sejm. This eventuality may now be possible because of the secession of MPs to the Platform.

Assessing the Platform's chances in the elections, former Prime Minister Jan Krzysztof Bielecki said: "I believe we'll get 25 per cent."

NATO criticizes Poland

NATO General Joseph Ralston, responsible for NATO forces in Europe, has criticized Poland for not spending enough money on the modernization of its military.

General Ralston began his visit to Poland on Tuesday 23 January after being invited by Polish Chief of Staff General Czesław Piętas. "In order to be an apt NATO member, Poland must possess modern equipment. Currently, the part of the budget assigned to modernization is too small," General Ralston said at a press conference on Tuesday.

He also singled out the system of financing the Polish army. The main flaw, he said, is a lack of budgetary foresight. "In order for Gen Piątas to plan, he needs to know what funds he's going to have in the perspective of a few years," Ralston said.

Last year, Poland declared it was going to spend 2.1 per cent of its GDP on military purposes, but this year's budget assigned only 1.92 per cent to the armed forces. Minister of Defense Bronisław Komorowski threatened to resign last week after it turned out that the parliamentary commission of defense cut the army's budget by nearly PLZ 100 million (approximately USD 25 million).

However, Minister of Finance Jarosław Bauc said that the government intended to defend this year's budget, including the budget cuts to the army. Bauc also said that within the next few weeks a six-year plan for the armed forces' modernization will be accepted.

According to the plan, the Polish army will be reduced to 150,000 soldiers (from the current 190,000) and the savings generated by this operation will be spent on modernization. Authorities in the Polish army want the plan to be passed in the Sejm as a parliamentary bill, so that its financial foundations are secured.

Wojtek Kość, 26 January 2001

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