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

To conclude, the Freedom Union (UW) was mostly concerned about the macroeconomic reformsand simplication of the tax system, adaption to the EU and promotion of financial discipline. Theaim was the fast as possible transition to market economy and liberal democracy of the westerntype. The SLD led governments were mostly critisized for alleged mistakes in the economic policywithout laying much emphasis on the SLD’s and PSL’s common background in the old statesocialist system.Thus the Democratic Union (UD) mainly appealed to the moderate groups indside the opposition tothe communist former regime. Several leaders had taken part in the round table negotiations anddefended the agreements, that were entered during those negotiations. One of the spokesmen thechief redactor of “Gazeta Wyborcza” Adam Michnik argued that the round table negotations was themost clever political decision ever taken in the 20 century’s Poland 71 . Identity and moral politicswere at a discount and the attitudes to communisation and and the role of church was clearlydeviating. The Democractic Union (UD) and the Freedom Union (UW) spoke in favour of astructural, not a personal reckoning with the communist past and rejected the principle aboutcollective guilt. The lack of legal garantees in the proposals put forward about decommunisation bythe right-tradionalist parties was heavily critisized and several among the law proposals put forwardin the parliament were voted down by votes from non only “post-communists”, but also theFreedom Union (UW), even in times when the UW was in the government together with the AWS.The Freedom Union (UW) suffered from the low developed middle class. Thus, the liberal slogansappealed to rather few people, mostly “winners” of the transformation. The UW gained 14 pct. ofthe votes at the 1997 election, but the fight of gaining the middle class votes remained intense. Themajority of the new entrepreneurs did not vote the Freedom Union (UW), rather the left wing SLD,because new entrepreneurs were dependent on the state. The Freedom Union (UW) appealed to theupper strata of the middle class, but that group remained rather small. Furthermore, it became aproblem that UW was not able to present its own candidate at the 2000 presidential election. Thebreak with the AWS and the withdrawal from government did not mean an improvement in thevoter appeal. In fact, the decline in the share of the votes continued according to most opinionpolls 72 .The pressure against Balcerowicz increased after the presidential election autumn 2000, where theindependent liberal president candidate Andrzej Olechowski obtained about two third of thetraditionally UW votes. The final result was the resignation of Balcerowicz as party chairman. Theformer foreign minister and more social liberal inclined Bronislaw Gemerek was put forward as thenew chairman. In the end, Gemerek was elected as the new chairman, but first after contestedelection with the more neoliberal Donald Tusk. Donald Tusk spoke in favour of establishing amodern right wing party, democratic, pro-market and independent of the church. With the electionof Bronislaw Gemerek a more social liberal and centristic policy line was followed, but the electionof a new chairman (Gemerek) did not secure the renewal, that many voters and party membersdemanded.The change of party leader reinforced the competition about gaining support from the middle classvoters. The liberal president candidate Andrzej Olechowski put forward plans about closer71 Adam Michnik, “Independence Reborn and the Demons of the Velvet Revolution”, in Antohi and Tismaneauni,1999:83.72 Base on the analyse presented by Doreta Macieja, “Zakladnicy etosu”, Wprost, 3, September, 2000.82