Freedom in the World 2001 - Poland

2001 Scores

Status: Free
Freedom Rating: 1.5
Civil Liberties: 2
Political Rights: 1

Overview

In the year 2000, Poland celebrated the 20th anniversary of Solidarity, the dynamic independent trade union movement that in the 1980s hastened communism's demise. Voters delivered a solid reelection victory in October 2000 to incumbent President Aleksander Kwasniewski, who pledged to make European Union (EU) membership his top priority. The collapse of Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek's parliamentary majority, the resolution of important cases before Poland's lustration court, and concern that Poland might not qualify for the first round of EU enlargement also marked the year.

From the fourteenth to the eighteenth centuries Poland and Lithuania maintained a powerful empire that Prussia, Austria, and Russia subsequently destroyed in three successive partitions. Poland enjoyed a window of independence from 1918 to 1939 but was forced into the Communist sphere at the end of World War II. Polish citizens endured a Soviet-style people's republic from 1952 to 1989, the year Lech Walesa and Solidarity forced the government to accept democratic reforms.

Voters elected Walesa president in 1990, and he presided over five years of economic and political transformation. Former Communist Aleksander Kwasniewski defeated Walesa in 1995 and remains in power today. Kwasniewski's Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) controlled the government from 1993 to 1997, when the opposition Solidarity Election Action (AWS) proved victorious in parliamentary elections. The smaller Freedom Union (UW) party joined the AWS in forming a majority government led by Prime Minister Buzek.

In June 2000, the UW withdrew its support from Buzek, whom it blamed for failing to rally support for important budget cuts and privatization programs. Five cabinet members resigned. Buzek now presides over an unpopular minority government that is expected to collapse before regular parliamentary elections in September 2001.

Poland's controversial 1998 lustration law requires candidates for political office to confess any cooperation with the Communist-era secret police. If a candidate denies cooperation and the lustration court determines he lied, the law bars him from public office for ten years. Prior to the 2000 presidential election, for example, independent candidate Andrzej Olechowski admitted collaborating with the secret police in the early 1970s. When Alexander Kwasniewski and Lech Walesa denied any spying, however, the State Protection Office (UOP) challenged them. The court ultimately cleared them of wrongdoing, but charges that the UOP's efforts were politically motivated cast doubt on the integrity and efficacy of the lustration process. In related news, parliament appointed a chair to the new National Memory Institute in 2000 and paved the way for Poles to open their Communist-era secret police files.

In October, voters reelected President Kwasniewski with 53.9 percent of the vote. His closest challenger, independent candidate Andrzej Olechowski, received only 17.3 percent. The remaining candidates performed as follows: Marian Krzaklewski, AWS, 15.57 percent; Jaroslaw Kalinowski, Polish Peasant Party, 5.95 percent; Andrzej Lepper, Self-Defense farmers' union, 3.05 percent. Seven candidates, including Lech Walesa, received less than 2 percent each. After his poor showing, Walesa retired from active political life.

The European Commission announced that Poland remains on course for EU membership sometime between 2003 and 2005 but needs to improve efficiency in the judiciary; intensify anticorruption efforts; jump-start agricultural reforms; and adhere to privatization plans in key industries like steel, defense, and energy. When the EU suggested that Poland might not qualify for the first round of enlargement, parliament accelerated its review of nearly 40 reform laws. In late December the government also created an inter-ministerial team to coordinate efforts against economic crime. Earlier in the month, Poles were shocked by the resignation of Silesian governor Marek Kempski, whose administration was known for its tough anticorruption stance. Kempski stepped down amid allegations that aides in his office were using their public posts to further private business deals.

Political Rights and Civil Liberties

Polish citizens who are age 18 or older can change their government democratically under a system of universal and equal suffrage by secret ballot. Voters elect the president and members of parliament. The president's appointment of the prime minister is subject to confirmation by the Sejm, parliament's lower house.

Elections in Poland are free and fair. The 1997 parliamentary election resulted in a change of government when the opposition AWS defeated the SLD. The AWS and the UW formed a coalition government led by Prime Minister Buzek. The next parliamentary elections are scheduled for 2001. In May 2000, in anticipation of the October election, parliament amended the Presidential Elections Act to comply with the 1997 constitution. Incumbent President Kwasniewski began his campaign with a strong lead in the polls. He easily defeated eleven opponents in the first round of voting.

The 1997 constitution guarantees freedom of expression and forbids censorship. Poland enjoys a wide diversity of media that comprises approximately 5,000 periodicals, 200 radio stations, and 9 television networks. This includes 4 public radio stations and 2 public television channels. Journalists object to a libel law that imposes strict penalties for slandering public officials. They also oppose the growing number of related lawsuits. President Kwasniewski won a legal suit in 2000 that forced the newspaper Zycie to issue a formal apology for claiming he had associated with a Russian spy back in 1997. The case sparked an important debate about journalists' burden of proof in reporting the news. During the 2000 presidential campaign, several candidates accused Polish Public Television (TVP) of favoring President Kwasniewski in its coverage. In response, Andrzej Kwiatkowski, the head of TVP's election coverage and a former Kwasniewski advisor, agreed to step down.

The state respects freedom of religion. More than 90 percent of Poles are Roman Catholic, and more than 60 percent worship regularly. In 2000, the state returned approximately $2 billion in communal property – synagogues, schools, cemeteries, etc. – to Polish Jews, and the first synagogue in Oswiecim (Auschwitz) opened since the end of World War II. The country's Roman Catholic bishops presented a letter in 2000 in which they asked for forgiveness "for those among us who show disdain for people of other denominations or tolerate anti-Semitism."

Polish citizens can petition the government, assemble freely, organize professional and other associations, and engage in collective bargaining. Public demonstrations require permits from local authorities. In 2000 members of the Self-Defense farmers' union protested government agricultural policies and demanded outstanding payments, while the National Trade Union Accord organized thousands of people to protest the country's high unemployment rate. Late in the year, the Union of Nurses and Midwives led thousands of nurses in a series of protests, hunger strikes, road blocks, and sit-ins to demand higher wages and better funding for the public health service. At year's end, the nurses and the government had not reached an agreement.

Poland has an independent judiciary, but courts are notorious for lengthy delays – up to 40 months in Warsaw – in processing cases. A January 2000 law seeks to relieve the burden by simplifying procedures and adding 400 court chambers for civil and criminal cases. Other reforms include strengthening the public prosecutor's office, adding more judges, and improving judicial training. Polish authorities also announced new measures aimed at combating corruption, including the creation a special police unit called the Central Anti-Corruption Office. In October parliament ratified a Council of Europe protocol to abolish the death penalty.

The constitution outlines a range of other personal rights and freedoms, including the right to privacy, the inviolability of the home, freedom of movement, and choice of residence. The constitution also specifies entitlements such as free education and health care.

At nearly 14 percent, unemployment in Poland is a serious problem. Even so, the country has a flourishing and competitive market economy in which the private sector makes up two-thirds of gross domestic product and 70 percent of total employment. The state respects property rights and encourages entrepreneurship, and it continues to privatize state enterprises. In 1999 the government signed a law on economic activity that widened the scope of entrepreneurship, gave equal status to domestic and foreign firms, and curbed state intervention in the economy. In 2000 parliament approved a five-day workweek but held the number of hours in the workweek at 42.