ELECTION (June 1989)

On April 7th seym enacted a new election bill and accepted all changes in the constitution introducing the post of the president and senate. On April 12th State Council (Rada Panstwa) decreed the date of election on June 4th and 18th, according to suggestions confirmed during the round table negotiations. On April 17th NSZZ Solidarity Komisja Porozumiewawcza was registered. On April 18th during an appointment of Czeslaw Kiszczak with Lech Walesa it was created, which had to control a realization of round table decisions.

An article "Yours president, our premier" of Adam Michnik suggesting that the president should be from PZPR and the premier from Solidarity.

Election campaign was developing. On May 8th the first issue of Gazeta Wyborcza was published, its editor was Adam Michnik. On May 10th on TV there was the first program of Solidarity. On May 31st "Tygodnik Solidarnosc" appeared after seven-year break. Tadeusz Mazowiecki was its editor.

The first stage of election brought a victory for Solidarity. It had 161 candidates for MPs to seym - 160 of them were elected and 100 candidates to senate - 92 of them were elected. Among the governmental coalition's candidates only 3 representatives were accepted. From country list, in which there were 35 candidates' names, only two of them were chosen . They got at least 50% of votes. However this election was not for Solidarity but against the government and reality created by its politics. In majority Lech Walesa's people were not known to most of Polish people. They had no idea how they would behave in real-life situations. Society knew almost everything about the authorities and had hopes that maybe Solidarity with Lech Walesa in charge of it would change their situation for better. And that decided about election's result. The second stage of election was only fulfilling the contract made during the round table negotiations.

In the first "democratic" elections 62,1% of Poles took part and in the second stage only 25%. The election's result surprised everybody - the winners, their opponents and those, who contributed to it.

Despite that, the end of communist system in Poland was almost not noticeable. Legal changes, thanks to which the opposition had a free way to the government influenced the shape of social and political system, in the first moment disguised a real meaning of what had happened in front of all people. Neither opposition and authority, nor society did take part in voting with an idea of abolition of the system.

Seym accepted the program and the government of Tadeusz Mazowiecki.

After June elections in 1989 Tadeusz Mazowiecki, member of Solidarity was chosen for a post of prime minister. Lech Walesa's team had to rebuilt Polish country in economic as well as political sphere once again. It was quite difficult because the USSR still existed and also communists had a considerable influence on the shape of the country.

Lech Walesa won the presidential election.

At the beginning of 1990 the first not communist government of Tadeusz Mazowiecki introduced a plan of Leszek Balcerowicz (deputy prime minister for economic affairs), whose main purpose was to lower the inflation. In autumn 1990 the presidential election took place, the chairman of NSZZ Solidarity Lech Walesa won and became the first democratically chosen president of Poland.

In the threshold of the 21th century Poland became one of the independent countries.