Poland's famous Round Table talks anniversary

Round Table talks which set off the fall of communism and political transformations in Poland as well as in East and Central Europe started in Warsaw 28 years ago on February 6, 1989.

The Round Table was an effect of negotiations between communist authorities and part of the opposition that started in mid-1988 in view of a growing wave of strikes and social protests.

According to Professor Antoni Dudek the start of negotiations was a "psychological breakthrough for (Wojciech) Jaruzelski's associates and at the same time a prelude to the resignation from force solutions that were introduced during spring strikes.

Pre-Round Table negotiations, led mainly by Interior Minister Mieczyslaw Kiszczak and Solidarity leader Lech Walesa, showed key differences on the legalisation of the Solidarity trade union banned by communist authorities after the introduction of martial law in Poland in 1981. The initial talks ended with the signing of a joint communique setting the date of the start of the debates (mid-October) and their scope. They were to cover, among others, "the shape of Poland's trade union movement."

The issue of communist authorities' approach towards Solidarity sparked a sharp conflict inside the communist party leading to the resignation of six top party officials firmly opposing any agreement with the opposition.

Due to wide differences the start of the actual round table talks has been put off. The situation became even more complex when authorities decided to close down Gdansk shipyard, the symbol of Solidarity.

The round table talks finally started on February 6, 1989 attended by 54 government and opposition representatives. The talks were not attended by General Wojciech Jaruzelski. Also not all opposition milieus were represented at the table.

The debates, accompanied by ongoing nation-wide protests and strikes, ended after two months on April 5, 1989.

Most important decisions reached at the table included the setting up of the second chamber of Polish parliament - the Senate and the office of the president of Poland. Changes introduced to the existing election law offered semi-democratic elections. They were held on June 4 and 18, 1989. This was a one-time solution, successive election were to be based on fully democratic rules.

The authorities also obliged themselves to legalise the Solidarity trade union, which has taken place on April 17, 1989.

Critics of the Round Table saw the negotiations as part of an action to hold Poland under the influence of the Soviet Union.

Andrzej Gwiazda, a prominent Solidarity member and one of the founders of Free Trade Unions, claims the Round Table Agreement and the preceding negotiations had been rigged by Moscow. In his opinion the Soviets "carefully selected a group of opposition activists, who passed on as reps of the whole Polish opposition."

Meanwhile, present Defence Minister Antoni Macierewicz perceives the negotiations and the following deal as a "classic Soviet plot of the secret services."

In February 2009 he said it was "a tactical success of parts of the elites, but from the point of view of Poland's national interests it was a failure." (PAP)