Editing Jan Olszewski (section)

===Post-Communist era: 1989–1991===

{{See also|1990 Polish presidential election|1991 Polish parliamentary election}}

With the fall of the communist regime in 1989, Olszewski was appointed as a member of the [[State Tribunal of the Republic of Poland|State Tribunal]] that year, a position he would hold until 1991. In 1990, Olszewski joined the conservative [[Centre Agreement]], whose party membership composed primarily of Wałęsa supporters in [[1990 Polish presidential election|that year's presidential election]].<ref name=Ost71/> Following the resignation of Prime Minister [[Tadeusz Mazowiecki]] in November 1990 after his first-round defeat in the presidential election, newly elected president Wałęsa sought a new prime minister.<ref name=Weiner80>[[#CITEREFWeiner1994|Weiner]], p. 80</ref> Initially, the president turned to Olszewski to take the position, though Olszewski quickly refused the post after numerous disagreements with Wałęsa over conditions the president placed on the prime minister's cabinet.<ref name=Weiner80/> Instead, Wałęsa turned to [[Jan Krzysztof Bielecki]] of the [[Liberal Democratic Congress]] to form a government.<ref name=Wrobel280>[[#CITEREFWróbel2010|Wróbel]], p. 280</ref> Bielecki's government lasted for the rest of 1991, collapsing in the aftermath of the inconclusive [[1991 Polish parliamentary election|1991 parliamentary elections]].

While Wałęsa appointed [[Bronisław Geremek]] as prime minister, an accord was signed by five centrist and rightist parties in the [[Sejm]], including the Liberal Democratic Congress, the [[Christian National Union]], the [[Peasants' Agreement]], the [[Confederation of Independent Poland]] and the [[Center Civic Alliance]] list (whose Olszewski's Centre Agreement belonged to) to select the next premier.<ref name=Wrobel283>[[#CITEREFWróbel2010|Wróbel]], pp. 283-284</ref> The parties supported Olszewski, a parliamentary outsider and respected lawyer from the Solidarity movement, to unite the various clubs.<ref name=Weiner82>[[#CITEREFWeiner1994|Weiner]], p. 82</ref> Grudgingly, Wałęsa, who no longer had a stable working relationship with Olszewski, honoured the coalition agreement and appointed the lawyer as premier on 6 December. Three weeks of selecting the cabinet followed.<ref name=Wrobel284>[[#CITEREFWróbel2010|Wróbel]], p. 284</ref> In the meantime, the original accord behind Olszewski's appointment immediately began to fall apart, as both the Liberal Democratic Congress and the Confederation of Independent Poland withdrew their support from Olszewski over economic and cabinet disagreements.<ref name=Weiner82/> Similarly, the [[Democratic Union (Poland)|Democratic Union]] refused to support an administration not committed to rapid economic reform, a concern shared with the Liberal Democrats.<ref name=Stone104>[[#CITEREFStone2002|Stone]], p. 104</ref>  Despite the weakened alliance, Olszewski's [[minority government]] was accepted by parliament on 23 December 1991.<ref name=Wrobel284/>