Editing Polish Round Table Agreement

{{Short description|1989 dialogue between the Polish government and banned trade unions}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2012}}
{{expand Polish|date=April 2022|Okrągły Stół (Polska)}}

[[File:Okrągły Stół Pałac Prezydencki w Warszawie 2019.jpg|thumb|Original table displayed at the [[Presidential Palace, Warsaw|Presidential Palace in Warsaw]]]]

The '''Polish Round Table Talks''' took place in [[Warsaw]], [[Polish People's Republic|communist Poland]], from 6 February to 5 April 1989.<ref>{{cite journal|url= https://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jii/4750978.0006.301?rgn=main;view=fulltext |title=The 1989 Polish Round Table Revisited: Making History |first=Brian |last=Porter |journal=The Journal of the International Institute |volume=6 |issue=3 |date=Summer 1999 |via=Michigan Publishing |access-date=19 August 2024}}</ref> The government initiated talks with the banned trade union [[Solidarity (Polish trade union)|Solidarność]] and other opposition groups to defuse growing social unrest.

==History==
{{Eastern Bloc sidebar}}

Following the factory strikes of the early 1980s and the subsequent formation of the (then still underground) Solidarity movement under the leadership of [[Lech Wałęsa]], the political situation in Poland started relaxing somewhat. Despite an attempt by the government to crack down on [[trade unionism]], the movement had gained too much momentum, and it became impossible to hold off change any more. In August 1988, the Polish People's Republic authorities started a dialogue with the opposition under the influence of multiple internal and external factors. The main reasons were the many social protests, lasting from May 1988 in different regions of Poland, the increasing crisis of the Polish economy, the pressure of the Polish Catholic Church to begin negotiations with the opposition, support of the Western states for Solidarność, and simultaneous internal transformations of the USSR provoked by the politics of perestroika of Gorbaczev, ultimately decided about initiating the talks.<ref>{{cite book|first1=Andrzej |last1=Friszke |first2=Janusz |last2=Grzelak |first3=Mirosław |last3=Kofta |first4=Adam |last4=Leszczyński |first5=Wiktor |last5=Osiatyński |first6=Janusz |last6=Reykowski |title=Psychologia Okrągłego Stołu |location=Sopot |publisher=Smak Słowa |date=2019 |pages=218–221 |isbn=9788365731777 |language=pl}}.</ref> Also the changes in the attitude of both ruling party and the opposition were vital to the process; the contemporary authorities knew that they need social permission to conduct required economic reforms,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Wnuk-Lipiński |first=Edmund |title=25 lat po przełomie |journal=Wolność I Solidarność |issue=7 |language=pl |date=2014 |pages=6–10 |url= https://ejournals.eu/czasopismo/wolnosc-i-solidarnosc/artykul/25-lat-po-przelomie |access-date=19 August 2024}}</ref> and for that reason, they wanted to share the political responsibility with Solidarność,<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.intro.media/artykuly/30-lat-okraglego-stolu-czesc-ii-kontrowersje |title=30 lat Okrągłego Stołu, część II – kontrowersje |first=Michał |last=Mryczko |date=7 February 2019 |language=pl |website=intro.media |access-date=19 August 2024}}</ref> whereas the opposition prioritized the need to reorganize public life over continuation of resisting the [[Polish United Workers' Party|Polish United Workers Party (PZPR)]].<ref>Kofta et al., p. 221–222.</ref>

In September 1988, when a [[1988 Polish strikes|wave of strikes]] was ending, a secret meeting was held, which included Lech Wałęsa and [[Minister of Internal Affairs]] [[Czesław Kiszczak]]. They agreed to hold the so-called "Round Table" talks in the near future to plan out the course of action to be undertaken in the country. The Round Table talks began on 6 February 1989 at 14:23 CET. They included the ''[[Solidarity (Polish trade union)|"Solidarity"]]'' ''opposition'' side and the government (also referred to as the ''ruling coalition'' side due to participation in the talks of PZPR's [[Bloc party|bloc parties]], like [[United People's Party (Poland)|United People's Party (ZSL)]], [[Alliance of Democrats (Poland)|Alliance of Democrats (SD)]], and other PZPR-dependent organizations). The talks were held in the Council of Ministers Office. Wałęsa and Kiszczak co-chaired the meetings.

The Polish communists, led by [[Wojciech Jaruzelski|General Jaruzelski]], hoped to co-opt prominent opposition leaders into the ruling group without significantly changing the political power structure. In reality, the talks radically altered the shape of the Polish government and society. The events in Poland precipitated and gave momentum to the fall of the entire European [[communist bloc]]; the [[Yalta arrangement]] collapsed soon after the events in Poland.

==Sessions==
The sessions were divided into three main [[committee]]s:<ref name="Dudek">{{cite book |last=Dudek |first=Antoni |title=Polityczna historia Polski 1989-2023 |publisher=Wydawnictwo Naukowe SCHOLAR |year=2023 |isbn=978-83-67450-66-9 |location=Warsaw |pages=13 |trans-title=Political history of Poland 1989-2023}}</ref>
*Political reforms committee
*[[Trade union]]s [[Pluralism (political philosophy)|pluralism]] committee
*Economy and social politics committee
Alongside main committees [[subcommittee]]s and [[working group]]s were established:<ref name="Dudek"/>

* Subcommittees:
** Subcommittee on [[ecology]] 
** Subcommittee on [[mining]]
** Subcommittee on housing policy 
** Subcommittee on youth affairs 
** Subcommittee on science, education and technical progress
** Subcommittee on [[Judiciary of Poland|law and court]] reforms
** Subcommittee on [[Agriculture in Poland|agriculture]] 
** Subcommittee on [[Mass media in Poland|mass media]] 
** Subcommittee on [[Political association|associations]] and [[local government]]
** Subcommittee on [[Health care in Poland|healthcare]]
* Working groups:
** Working group on [[wage]] and [[income]] [[indexation]]
** Working group on property rights of trade unions
** Working group on amending the Trade Union Act
** Working group on local government
** Working group on associations
** Working group on assumptions for the [[Draft document|draft act]] on the rights of certain employees to re-establish an employment relationship
** Working group on the act on trade unions of individual farmers.

Specific issues were handled by these work groups, although meetings often ground to a halt. This was caused by a mutual distrust of the factions and an obvious unwillingness of the government faction to relinquish power. The most controversial questions were:
*Pay raises and indexation
*Future pluralist elections
*The limit of the future president's competence
*The limit of competence for the future [[Parliament of Poland|parliament]]
*The access to [[mass media|mass communication media]] by opposition forces

Principal negotiators of the governing coalition and the opposition camp were chosen by their leaders; respectively Wojciech Jaruzelski (although he did not participate in the talks), Mieczysław Rakowski, Józef Czyrek and Stanisław Ciosek, and then Lech Wałęsa and Henryk Wujec.<ref>Kofta et al., p. 240–242.</ref> It is essential to notice that both parties maintained a sense of high legitimacy during the conversations; Solidarność based on representing the society and transparent informing the broad public about the course of the talks, whereas the authorities based on holding the real power and belief that they still represent the interests of a vital part of the society.<ref>Kofta et al., p. 243–245.</ref> The most important topics of negotiations were future elections, the position of the president, Senate, practical reforms of the state's structure, and bringing back free associations and unions.<ref>Kofta et al., p. 251–254.</ref>

Several radical opposition organizations opposed the talks as they did not believe in the good intentions of the sitting government. Despite their fears, several critical documents were signed after the sessions on 5 April. These documents became known as the Round Table Agreement.

== Participants ==
Throughout talks almost 452 people participated in it.<ref name="Dudek"/> Many participants of the talks afterwards held important positions. Among them were three future [[President of Poland|presidents]] ([[Lech Wałęsa]], [[Aleksander Kwaśniewski]], [[Lech Kaczyński]]), five [[Prime Minister of Poland|prime ministers]] ([[Czesław Kiszczak]], [[Tadeusz Mazowiecki]], [[Jan Olszewski]], [[Leszek Miller]], [[Jarosław Kaczyński]]), four [[Deputy Prime Minister of Poland|deputy prime ministers]], six marshals and deputy marshals of the [[Sejm]] and the [[Senate of Poland|Senate]], over 75 ministers and deputy ministers, about 100 [[Member of parliament|MPs]] and the First President of the [[Supreme Court of Poland|Supreme Court]] ([[Adam Strzembosz]]).<ref>{{cite web |last=Henzler |first=Marek |date=2009-02-05 |title=Lista obecności |url= https://www.polityka.pl/tygodnikpolityka/kraj/278635,1,lista-obecnosci.read |access-date=2024-06-29 |website=polityka.pl |language=pl}}</ref>

== List of the plenary sessions participants ==
Source:<ref>{{cite book |last=Garlicki |first=Andrzej |title=Rycerze Okrągłego Stołu |publisher=Czytelnik |year=2004 |isbn=83-07-02970-8 |location=Warsaw |pages=236–237 |language=pl |trans-title=Knights of the Round Table}}</ref>
=== ''Ruling coalition:'' ===
* [[Tomasz Adamczuk]] ([[United People's Party (Poland)|ZSL]])
* [[Norbert Aleksiewicz]] ([[Polish United Workers' Party|PZPR]])
* [[Stanisław Ciosek]] ([[Polish United Workers' Party|PZPR]])
* [[Aleksander Gieysztor]] ([[Independent politician|independent]])
* [[Wiesław Gwiżdż]] ([[Polish Catholic and Social Association|Polish Catholic and Social Association, PZKS]])
* [[Marek Hołdakowski]] ([[Polish United Workers' Party|PZPR]])
* [[Jan Janowski]] ([[Alliance of Democrats (Poland)|SD]])
* [[Janusz Jarliński]] ([[All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions|All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions, OPZZ]])
* [[Czesław Kiszczak]] ([[Polish United Workers' Party|PZPR]])
* [[Zenon Komender]] ([[PAX Association]])
* [[Jan Karol Kostrzewski]] (independent)
* [[Mikołaj Kozakiewicz]] ([[United People's Party (Poland)|ZSL]])
* [[Bogdan Królewski]] ([[United People's Party (Poland)|ZSL]])
* [[Aleksander Kwaśniewski]] ([[Polish United Workers' Party|PZPR]])
* [[Maciej Manicki]] ([[All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions|OPZZ]])
* [[Harald Matuszewski]] ([[All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions|OPZZ]])
* [[Leszek Miller]] ([[Polish United Workers' Party|PZPR]])
* [[Alfred Miodowicz]] ([[All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions|OPZZ]])
* [[Kazimierz Morawski (politician)|Kazimierz Morawski]] ([[Christian Social Association|Christian Social Association, ChSS]])
* [[Jerzy Ozdowski]] (independent)
* [[Anna Przecławska]] (independent)
* [[Tadeusz Rączkiewicz]] ([[All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions|OPZZ]])
* [[Jan Rychlewski]] ([[Polish United Workers' Party|PZPR]])
* [[Władysław Siła-Nowicki]] ([[Labour Party (Poland)|Christian-Democratic Labour Party, ChDSP]])
* [[Zbigniew Sobotka]] ([[Polish United Workers' Party|PZPR]])
* [[Romuald Sosnowski]] ([[All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions|OPZZ]])
* [[Stanisław Wiśniewski]] ([[All-Poland Alliance of Trade Unions|OPZZ]])
* [[Jan Zaciura]] ([[Polish United Workers' Party|PZPR]])
* [[Edward Zgłobicki]] ([[Alliance of Democrats (Poland)|SD]])
=== ''"Solidarity" opposition:'' ===
* [[Stefan Bratkowski]]
* [[Zbigniew Bujak]]
* [[Władysław Findeisen]]
* [[Władysław Frasyniuk]]
* [[Bronisław Geremek]]
* [[Mieczysław Gil]]
* [[Aleksander Hall]]
* [[Jacek Kuroń]]
* [[Władysław Liwak]]
* [[Tadeusz Mazowiecki]]
* [[Jacek Merkel]]
* [[Adam Michnik]]
* [[Alojzy Pietrzyk]]
* [[Edward Radziewicz]]
* [[Henryk Samsonowicz]]
* [[Grażyna Staniszewska]]
* [[Andrzej Stelmachowski]]
* [[Stanisław Stomma]]
* [[Klemens Szaniawski]]
* [[Jan Józef Szczepański]]
* [[Edward Szwajkiewicz]]
* [[Józef Ślisz]]
* [[Witold Trzeciakowski]]
* [[Jerzy Turowicz]]
* [[Lech Wałęsa]]
* [[Andrzej Wielowieyski]]
=== Church side observers ===
* [[Bronisław Dembowski]]
* [[Bishop]] of the [[Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession in Poland|Evangelical Church of the Augsburg Confession]] [[Janusz Narzyński]]
* [[Alojzy Orszulik]]
===Spokespersons ===
* [[Janusz Onyszkiewicz]] (representing opposition)
* [[Jerzy Urban]] (representing government)

==Results==
An agreement ("Round Table Agreement") was signed on 6 April 1989.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/06/world/poland-sets-free-vote-in-june-first-since-45-solidarity-reinstated.html |title=Poland Sets Free Vote in June, First Since '45; Solidarity Reinstated – A New Parliament – Opposition to Get 35% of Lower House and Open Vote in Upper |first=John |last=Tagliabue |newspaper=The New York Times |date=6 April 2023 |accessdate=5 April 2023 |page=A1}}</ref> The most important demands, including those reflected in the [[April Novelization]], were:
*Legalization of independent trade unions
*The introduction of the office of President (thereby annulling the power of the Communist party general secretary), who would be elected to a six-year term
*The formation of a Senate

As a result, real political power was vested in a newly created [[bicameral legislature]] and in a president who would be the chief executive. Solidarność became a legitimate and legal political party. Free election to 35% of the seats in Sejm and an entirely free election to the [[Senate of Poland|Senate]] was assured.

The Round Table Agreement also brought more plurality in public media. It allowed for the creation of a first, fully independent journal ‘Gazeta Wyborcza’, whose first edition was published on May 8, 1989.<ref name="intro.media">{{cite web|url= https://intro.media/artykuly/30-lat-okraglego-stolu-czesc-i-geneza-i-przebieg-wydarzen |title=30 lat Okrągłego Stołu, część I – geneza i przebieg wydarzeń |first=Michał |last=Mryczko |date=6 February 2019 |language=pl |website=intro.media |access-date=19 August 2024}}</ref> The politicians of the opposition were invited to the national public media, and the spots of Solidarność were released in public television.<ref name="intro.media"/> Simultaneously, Solidarność started to publish their own weekly newspaper ‘Tygodnik Solidarności’, whose editor-in-chief became Tadeusz Mazowiecki.<ref name="intro.media"/>

The [[Contract Sejm|election of 4 June 1989]] brought a landslide victory to Solidarność: 99% of all the seats in the Senate and all of the 35% possible seats in Sejm. Jaruzelski, whose name was the only one the PZPR allowed on the ballot for the presidency, won by just one vote in the National Assembly. The 65–35 division was soon abolished as well, after the first truly free Sejm elections.

==Criticism==
[[Andrzej Gwiazda]], who was one of the leaders of the so-called ''First Solidarity'' (August 1980 – December 1981), claims that the Round Table Agreement and the negotiations that took place before it at a Communist government's [[Ministry of the Interior and Administration (Poland)]] conference center (late 1988 and early 1989) in the village of [[Magdalenka, Masovian Voivodeship|Magdalenka]] had been arranged by Moscow. According to Gwiazda, who himself did not take part in the negotiations, the Soviets "carefully selected a group of opposition activists, who passed on as representatives of the whole [Polish] society, and made a deal with them".<ref>[http://www.se.pl/wydarzenia/kraj/okragy-sto-zosta-zaplanowany-w-moskwie_94674.html Okrągły Stół został zaplanowany w Moskwie, interview with Andrzej Gwiazda, Super Express, 08.04.2009]</ref>

This notion was supported by [[Anna Walentynowicz]], who in an interview given in 2005 stated that the Agreement was a "success of the Communists, not of the nation". According to Walentynowicz, [[Czesław Kiszczak]] and [[Wojciech Jaruzelski]], who initiated the negotiations, "safeguarded their own safety and (...) influence on the government". Walentynowicz claims that the talks were organized so that in the future, "no Communist criminal, murderer or thief would pay for their crimes".<ref>[http://www.se.pl/wydarzenia/kraj/okragy-sto-by-sukcesem-komunistow-nie-spoeczenstwa_88698.html Okrągły Stół był sukcesem komunistów, nie społeczeństwa, interview with Anna Walentynowicz, Super Express, 05.02.2009]</ref>

[[Antoni Macierewicz]] regards the negotiations and the agreement as a "classic Soviet plot of the secret services". In his opinion, both Kiszczak and Jaruzelski were "at every stage controlled by their Soviet overseers (...) and their autonomy was minimal". As Macierewicz said in February 2009, the Round Table was a "tactical success of the parts of the elites, but from the point of view of national interests of Poland, it was a failure".<ref>[http://www.gover.pl/news/szczegoly/guid/macierewicz-okragly-stol-to-przegrana Gover.pl, Polityka w sieci. Macierewicz: Okrągły Stół to przegrana, 06.-2.2009] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029200636/http://www.gover.pl/news/szczegoly/guid/macierewicz-okragly-stol-to-przegrana |date=October 29, 2013 }}</ref>

Piotr Bączek of [[Gazeta Polska]] weekly wrote that in the mid-1980s, the so-called Communist ''Team of three'' ([[Jerzy Urban]], General [[Władysław Pożoga]] and [[Stanisław Ciosek]]), suggested that among opposition activists, "search for people, who are politically available" should be initiated, as "yesterday's opponent, drawn into the power, becomes a zealous ally".<ref>[http://niezalezna.pl/11539-4-czerwca-1989-r-jak-majstrowano-okragly-stol 4 czerwca 1989 r. – jak majstrowano Okrągły Stół by niezalezna.pl, 2011-06-04]</ref> In June 1987 [[Mieczysław Rakowski]], in a report handed to General Jaruzelski, wrote that a "change in the attitude towards the opposition must be initiated (...) Maybe, out of numerous oppositional fractions, one movement would be selected and allowed to participate in the governing", wrote Rakowski. Bączek's opinion is backed by Filip Musiał, a historian of Kraków's office of [[Institute of National Remembrance]]. In June 2008 Musiał stated that the ''Team of three'' was ordered to find a solution to a problem, which troubled Communist government of Poland. Economic situation of the country was worsening in the late 1980s, and the threat of social unrest was real. At the same time, the Communists did not want to relinquish power, so they prepared, in Musiał's words, "a political marketing operation".<ref>[http://fakty.interia.pl/prasa/tygodnik_solidarnosc/news/operacja-okraglego-stolu,1122671,3406 Operacja "okrągłego stołu", interview with Filip Musiał, interia.pl, June 5, 2008] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080613055913/http://fakty.interia.pl/prasa/tygodnik_solidarnosc/news/operacja-okraglego-stolu%2C1122671%2C3406 |date=June 13, 2008 }}</ref>

Musiał says that General Czesław Kiszczak himself decided which oppositional activists were "politically available" – the condition was that the candidates had to be supportive of "evolution" of the system, not its "radical rejection". Therefore, most opposition activists, who took part in the negotiations, were those who at different points of their lives were close to the "Marxist doctrine" or belonged to the Communist party. Furthermore, all participants were carefully scrutinized by the secret services. As a result, Poland was "the first Eastern Europe country, in which talks were initiated, but the last, in which completely free elections were organized, in the fall of 1991". The first prime minister after this election, [[Jan Olszewski]], said that "basic issues had been settled before [the talks], and the negotiations at the Round Table were about secondary matters".<ref>[http://salski.nowyekran.pl/post/16524,legenda-okraglego-stolu-klamstwem-zalozycielskim-iii-rp by Andy-aandy, June 3, 2011]</ref>

==See also==
* [[Contract Sejm]]
* [[2019 Sudanese transition to democracy]]

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==
{{commonscat|Polish Round Table (1989)}}
*[http://ma.blox.pl/2005/04/Walesa-Michnik-Kiszczak.html Negotiations at Magdalenka. Adam Michnik and Lech Wałęsa drinking vodka with Czesław Kiszczak]
*[http://quod.lib.umich.edu/j/jii/4750978.0006.301?rgn=main;view=fulltext The 1989 Polish Round Table Revisited: Making History Brian Porter 1999]
{{History of the People's Republic of Poland}}
{{History of the Third Polish Republic}}
{{Fall of Communism}}
[[Category:1989 conferences]]
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[[Category:1989 in Poland]]
[[Category:April 1989 in Europe]]
[[Category:Democratization]]
[[Category:February 1989 in Europe]]
[[Category:Nonviolent revolutions]]
[[Category:Political history of Poland]]
[[Category:Revolutions of 1989]]
[[Category:Solidarity (Polish trade union)]]