Score One for Kania

By Thomas A. Sancton

Challenged by the party leader, Solidarity calls for calm

The trip was a ritual of homage. Following in the footsteps of every other East bloc leader, Polish Party Boss Stanislaw Kania and Premier Wojciech Jaruzelski made the traditional trek to Leonid Brezhnev's Crimean vacation retreat last week for what was described by the official news agency TASS as a "short working visit." They had much to work out.

First, there were some personal differences to mend: this was Kama's first meeting with Brezhnev since the Kremlin's June 5 letter blasting the Polish leader for being soft on "counterrevolution." Then Kania had some explanations to give about last month's party congress in Warsaw--an unprecedented session that democratized the party's structure and purged much of its leadership. Most urgent of all was what to do about the latest wave of strikes and demonstrations sparked by Poland's critical food shortage.

After their meeting, the leaders issued a communique agreeing that the Polish situation is "very complex and difficult." But one sign of some Kremlin tolerance was a decision to defer Poland's debt payments to the Soviets. It may have helped that Kania had not waited for his summons to the Crimea to adopt a hard line at home. Addressing the first session of the newly elected Central Committee in Warsaw early last week, he grimly warned: "We must find a way to make Polish streets peaceful again or the logic of events could lead to the greatest national tragedy." Speaker after speaker followed Kania to the lectern to denounce the independent Solidarity trade union for encouraging the food protests in a bid to seize political power. Construction Foreman Albin Siwak, a conservative Politburo newcomer, angrily demanded that the government "put a stop to anarchy and disorder."

Meanwhile, in Gdansk, Solidarity's national commission held an emergency session on how to deal with the government. For three days, union leaders angrily debated the question of just how far they could push the beleaguered officials under the threat of possible Soviet intervention. Solidarity Leader Lech Walesa later described their dilemma: "Should we behave as a typical trade union that makes demands or should we attempt, as Poles and citizens, to go in a slightly different direction?"

In the end, Walesa seems to have shepherded the union once again down the path of moderation. The final Gdansk communique called for a halt to further food protests until the second half of Solidarity's national congress ends in mid-October. Citing the country's "serious economic and social situation," the resolution also urged workers to give up eight free Saturdays this year to boost production of coal, food and exports. Tensions eased following the publication of the Gdansk communique, which the official party daily Trybuna Ludu called "a partial return to realistic thinking."

There was ample reason for labor-government conciliation. Soviet Marshal Viktor Kulikov, commander of the Warsaw Pact forces, had paid an ominous visit to Warsaw the previous weekend. Arriving while the Soviet navy was conducting massive amphibious exercises in the Baltic, Kulikov is thought to have urged decisive steps to curb the unrest. Indeed, all of Warsaw's allies had stepped up their criticism of the spreading Polish disorders. Keeping up the pressure, Moscow announced at week's end that large-scale maneuvers would begin near the Soviet-Polish border next month.

In the face of the implicit threats from abroad and the tough talk from the authorities at home, Walesa and his fellow union moderates worked to calm the volatile situation. A planned "women's march" was canceled on the eve of the national commission's meeting in Gdansk. At the opening session, Solidarity leaders listened respectfully as Union Affairs Minister Stanislaw Ciosek described the nation's all too familiar problems and outlined plans for economic reform, including price hikes and wage freezes.

In another conciliatory move, Solidarity named a "good offices commission" to mediate with the government. Its members: Archbishop Jozef Glemp, leader of the country's powerful Catholic hierarchy; Stefan Bratkowski, liberal head of the Polish Journalists' Association; and Alexander Gieysztor, president of the Polish Academy of Sciences. For its part, the government announced that Kania had personally met with Archbishop Glemp at midweek, presumably to enlist his help in soothing the country's frayed tempers.

Solidarity's final call for renewed labor peace should make that task a little easier. At week's end Poland's Catholic bishops called on both government and workers to "abide by the law, work honestly, fulfill agreements and respect the rights of human beings."

But the clock is still ticking for Poland. Although union moderates seem to have won last week, they will face another crucial showdown with the militants at Solidarity's first annual congress in Gdansk beginning next month. Meanwhile, the country's deepening economic crisis--and lengthening food lines--will test Walesa's ability to control restive union locals and keep the fragile peace.

The first cracks in the truce may soon appear. Defying Solidarity's call for calm, students and members of the KOR dissident group maintained their plans for a so-called star march converging on Warsaw from five cities. The demonstration, calling for the release of all political prisoners, was scheduled to begin Monday and reach the capital at the end of the week. Since the government has vowed to suppress the march at all costs, the country could be headed toward the confrontation that Kania warned about before his pilgrimage to see Brezhnev. --By Thomas A. Sancton.

Reported by Richard Hornik/Bonn

With reporting by Richard Hornik

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