Development of Parties and Party Systems in ... - lah@sam.sdu.dk

Since the 1997-election by most obervers AWS has been considered as the “party of power”, i.e.with striking cartel characteristics. ”Catch-all” appeals were still pushed forward, at least formally,but the stamp of a movement party disappeared. Thus, the hypothesis that the new parties movetowards catch-all cartel parties can be confirmed as far as AWS is concerned. At least until the late1990’s AWS occupied several important posts in society, e.g. the Prime Minister and vice-primeminister, one third of the ministers, more than 100 members of Sejm and the Senate, three chairmenon voivod-level and 3-4,000 members of town and regional councils and mayors.According to official declarations AWS should express the collective interests of the majority of thePolish people, acting inclusively and catch. In “practical life”, however, it was governed top-downand bureaucratically. Party cohesion and lyalty on elite level were almost absent inside RS AWSand the party federation AWS as well as between AWS’ different ”legs”. The problems onprogramme- and policy-level reinforced the cartel-profile and the focus on “technology of power”.Political economy (and “moral economy”) remained an integral part of AWS’ political practise.Also managers of big enterprises, on which the Polish state was holding majority stakes werenominated by the AWS; one example was Tomasz Tywonek, a member of the executive board ofTPSA (Telecom), also strong ties between the AWS and managers in PKN Orlen (Polish OilCompany) have been observed.A culture of debate was badly needed on both the macro political level and in the local partyorganizations. Almost no discussions took place before appointments to the most important jobs insociety and important policy-decisions. It was even not discussed what the party should fight for.First on the last day of the 1999 congress- and without much discussion - the first programme wasadopted, mainly consisting of abstract symbolic declarations. Future Poland, it was said, should be”free and modern” consisting of ”strong families”, based on solidarity and market economy andregulated according to Christian moral and ethics. That programme could hardly appeal to theaverage voter, e.g. young people who paid most attention to social wellfare and solution of day-todayproblems. According to ”Pentor”, in late 1999 no less than 74 pct of the Polish peopleexpressed dissatisfaction with the prime minister and 82 pct. with the work of the government as awhole.“The End”In the end, the decline in voter support and lack of institutionalisation had as the logical finale areconstruction of AWS ending with the dissolution of the “old AWS”. In December 2000 andJanuary 2001 the Civic Platform (PO) was created on the initiative of Maciej Plazynski, DonaldTusk and Andrzej Olechowski, later AWS’ liberal “leg”, SKL with a narrow margin took thedecision to leave AWS and in stead cooperate closer with the Platform (OP). Later, in theSeptember 2001 the collapse of AWS came closer as also the trade union Solidarity (NSZZ“Solidarnosc”) defected, from AWS and the Kaczynski brothers created their own platform called“Right and Justice” (“Prawo i Sprawedliwosc”, PiS). PiS was cooperating with Kazimiers M.Ujazdowskis (former member of ZChN) ”Przymierze Prawicy”. From summer 2001, due to thecooperating with the right-traditionalist “Movement for Building Poland” (ROP) AWS transformeditself to “AWSP” (“Prawo”, Right), an electoral alliance with three different “legs”, i.e. the old RSAWS and the two Christian “legs”, PPChD and ZChN. In July 2001 ROP cancelled its cooperationwith AWS, also some groups inside the Christian ZChN took the decision to leave AWSP. Thus thePolish Right was deeply transformed in the months between the 2000 presidential election and the65