POLAND: PURGE OF PARTY LIBERALS

Created: 1/9/1982

OCR scan of the original document, errors are possible

POLAND: Purge of Party Liberals

A purge of parly liberateke it difficult for Premier Jaruzelski to carry out his pledge to continue reforms. Reports from Krakow indicate that the regime has given intellectuals better treatment than workers in the detention camps. TASS again has accused the US of interfering in Poland's internal affairs arA violating the Helsinki Pinal Act.

A leading liberal in the Communist Party, Tadeusz Fiszbach, has resigned as party chief In Gdansk Province. Piszbach hadtrong supporter of reforms andorking relationship withff^

Although some officials assert there will be no purge, the party media continue to emphasize that the party must remove quickly those people with "alien" ideological and political convictions. Jaruzelski's political and economic program will not be made public for another two to three weeks. lenum of the Central tlttee is being prepared, but no date has been set.

^Commi

Comment> The purge in the party is probably hitting hardest the "liberals who advocated that the party give up its highly centralized and authoritarian style of rule, although the evidence is inconclusive. This group includes intellectuals, members of the academic community, and workers in the largest and most strategic industries who were the strongest supporters of solidarity. More resignations are expected before the Central Committee convenes.

A conservative victory in the party will present it with serious and long-term problems. By insisting on ideological purity and loyalty, the party will lose some of its most skilled people, thus making ItIf notthe party to initiate programs to meet Poland's problems. Despite his alleged desire to implementonservative victory would diminish Jaruzelski's ability to do so. onservative party will find it almos^impossibio to win any credibility with the population. I

9 January

Approver

Detainee Conditions

small groups or detainees whowrc fcrraerly Solidarity leaders are on hunger strikes in several prisons and that thererebellion" by detainees being held near Rzeszow. Relatives of these detainees have been denied visiting rights, and letters and packages have not been distributed. One contact claimedmodel prison" had been set up to deceive the Red Cross and other groups reporting on prison conditions. Archbishop Glemp, in his sermon on Wednesday evening, criticized conditions in some of the detention centers.

Comment: Most earlier reports that said that con-ditions in detention camps were not bad had come from intellectuals. The more gentle handling of intellectual! may reflect, inealization that the military government will be judged in the west moreby itsof intellectuals than of workers.

Soviet Commentary

TASS yesterday assailed Vice President Bush'son Thursday as another attempt by the US to "sell its anti-Soviet line" to Western Europe. The article contended that Washington is exploiting divisions within Europe to pressure the Allies into applying their own sanctions against Poland and the USSR.

summit

TASS also attacked the decision by the Voice of America to increase the number of Polish-languageas an escalation of US "psychological war." The commentary described the broadcasts, along with those of Radio Free Europe, the British Broadcasting Corporation, Deutsche Welle, and otherslatant effort to turn the population againet the Warsaw government and the USSR, "In violation of the letter and epirit of the Helsinki Accords.

Comment: The TASS commentary on Western broadcasts also was intendedesponse to the US demarche made on Thursday about Soviet jamming of Voice of America Polish-language broadcasts. Sincefltart of the Polish crisis in the fall the Soviets have countered Western accusations that jamming violates those provisions of the Helsinki Pinal Act governing the free flow of information with the contention that some Western broadcasts contravene the Act's principle of noninterference in the internal affairs of other

rjl982

Original document.

Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic: