‘POLAND Solidarity’s — transformation from trade union to political opposition — _ As the congress of Solidarity unfolds in the port city of Gdansk, the issue of Just what the organization’s aims are » ome more and more to the fore. __ Despite disclaimers by some Solidar- ity spokesmen that the union seeks to avoid a confrontation with the authori- ties, additional evidence, in the form of Temarks and actions show the opposite to be the case. _ Last September the union and government signed an agreement in which Solidarity recognized the leading Tole of the Polish United Workers’ Party and the country’s socialist system. Here 198)" was agreed to (Tribune, Sept. 8, “... The new ‘trade unions shall de- fend the social and material interests of __ the workers and will not play the role ofa Political party. They stand for the social Ownership of the means of production as being the foundations of the socialist sys- tem existing in Poland. “Recognizing that the Polish United Workers’ Party exercises the leading role in the_state, and not. undermining. the» established system of international alli- — ances, they aspire to ensure the working People the appropriate means of control, Of expressing opinions and defending ir interests.’’ The Polish government has charged that Solidarity is quickly becoming a Political instriment with the aim of tak- ing power. It has argued that the union shifted its ground on the key issue of State power, has continued a policy of ‘Stnikes geared to destabilize the economy and exert additional political pressure. The veneer of a ‘trade union” came Way in a resolution adopted by the con- &ess which declared ‘‘We are not a trade Union anymore, but a social movement.”’ transformation continued in the “The Only way to maintain unity is to set “P a dictatorship with me at the head,” Lech Walesa is quoted in a United Press International dispatch from the Gdansk Solidarity conference Sept. 10. A resolution which, according to press re- ports, also issued a “‘call’’ to workers in other socialist states to follow Solidari- ty’s lead. This “‘call’’ led to acomment in the newspaper of the Polish United Workers’ Party, Tribuna: Ludu, which charged that Solidarity was indulging in “interference in the internal affairs of other states.”’ The Soviet news agency Tass wrote that Solidarity was not interested in nor- mal union .work and had become a politi- cal opposition group against socialism. Defend Socialism Speaking to a meeting of the PUWP central committee on the eve of the Gdansk Solidarity meeting, PUWP ‘leader Stanislaw Kania said ‘‘The party will not be pushed to the brink, because it is the leading force of the working class, the nation (and) a force carrying histori- cal responsibility for the fate of the coun- try.’’ He added that the government will employ ‘‘any means necessary to defend socialism.” Referring to the clause by Solidarity last September, one delegate at Gdansk put it bluntly: ‘‘It may have been neces- sary when we were beginning our fight, but now it’s a little absurd when we are fighting most of the party’s ideas.” Others iritroduced resolutions calling for a boycott of the Polish Seym (parlia- ment) while still others openly spoke about Solidarity ‘‘taking political and economic control’ of the country. 2 *e In an Aug. 22 article in the U.S. Daily World, staff writer Conrad Komorowski (who visited Poland for several weeks last spring) outlines the direction Solidar- ity is heading. We reprint it in full: - Solidarity is headed for an open, “‘total confrontation’ with Poland’s socialist government if Lech Walesa and other top leaders and ‘‘advisers” have their way. Walesa angrily blurted out the real aims of Solidarity’s leadership at the end of the nationwide printers’ strike Solidar- ity tried to pull off. Sharper, more sophis- ticated ‘‘advisers’’ to Solidarity’s top body have tried to cover up Walesa’s blunt statement, because they know it will alienate rank-and-file supporters who are seeking a solution to problems ‘but not a confrontation with the govern- ment of socialist Poland. Political Role Walesa said, ‘‘We should not speak politics; we should make politics. We see it more clearly that without political solu- tions nothing can be achieved. I believe confrontation is unavoidable.”’ - Walesa was spurred to this angry admission by questions from printers in Solidarity’s ranks who wanted to know how the political strike, shutting down newspapers, could improve the BA EOS . . SIME RP Ua . Py economic situation and provide more meat. By raising the question of what good the strike would do, they brought to light its political character. Walesa is quoted by United Press International as also saying, ‘‘The next confrontation will be a total confronta- tion. Now we need some time to survive a little longer and then we can win.”’ Walesa’s statements on this occasion parallel declarations he made during a truck-bus-taxi demonstration in Warsaw about two weeks ago. He said, ‘‘We are masters of the situation and we will con- tinue to be so for a long time to come.” He continued, ‘‘We are here to win. We have conceded too much ground so far. The government’s obstinancy is in- comprehensible and we must break it.”’ This was followed by a two day meet- ing of Solidarity’s national consultative commission in Gdansk. In a press inter- view, Walesa declared that Solidarity must no longer consider itself a *‘typical trade union organization’’ but assume a political role as a political movement. This was followed by the political strike to shut down newspapers, a form of blackmail. The Solidarity leadership is not acting out of strength, however, but out of growing weakness and failure. Walesa has admitted that one-third of Solidarity members ‘‘have become shaky.”’ Solidarity Losing Members A poll, conducted by Solidarity re- searchers, shows in preliminary findings that Solidarity’ s inability to live up to its promises is causing severe membership losses. ‘Some one-third of the union mem- bers have become shaky,’’ Walesa told a meeting of Solidarity officials. ‘Some of them have become scared by the economic situation. We have to regain these people.” More than economic problems bother _ workers and the rest of the Polish people. The more clearly the Polish United Workers’ Party has exposed the anti- _ socialist aims of elements manipulating Solidarity for their own purposes, the greater has been the loss of Solidarity membership. Behind Walesa stand the anti-socialist elements who are using-him and Solidar- ity for anti-socialist purposes. When Walesa, who is not much of a thinker, blurted out the aim of Solidarity’s top leadership, which exposed its bid for political power, a spokesman for Soli- darity tried to dissociate the organization from some of Walesa’s statements and to play down others, because of fears of the alienating effect it would have on public opinion. Try to Cover Up At a press conference, a Solidarity spokesman said that Walesa’s remarks represent his ‘‘private opinion and were not meant to be the opinion of the union as a whole.” Although United Press International reported this, the New York Times and the Washington Post did not even refer to it. The stories of their correspondents, while inflating the ‘‘successes”’ of Sol- idarity, made no reference to it. + A WORLDWIDE CAMPAIGN TO SAVE MAIDANA’S LIFE - The fight to save the life of Antonio Maidana, general secretary of the Communist ~7| Party of Paraguay, is again reaching international proportions. Maidana, who was released in 1977 after serving 20 years in prison, was kidnapped in August, 1980 by Paraguayan political police while living in Argentina. After a year, he was discovered to be in Paraguay, back in prison and undergoing severe torture, along with another kidnapped Communist leader Emilio Roa. The dictatorship of Stroessner in Paraguay has been in power for 27 years and in that time has brutally suppressed all political opposition. More than one million persons, or 30% of the population is in exile. Letters and cables calling for the release of Maidana, Roa and other political prisoners can be effective. They should be sent to: General Alfredo Stroessner, Palacio de Gobierno, Asuncion, Paraguay. See eres eabinanuaa PACIFIC TRIBUNE—SEPT. 18, 1981—Page 9 ee Red we SOR a Pane oe {LS PAP PPL Pitas