The failure of party moderates yesterday to oust conservatives from the leadership may bode ill for today's talks between Walesa and Deputy ftIm Minister Rakowski that are aimed eteneral strike due to begin tomorrow.
Party conservatives were forcefully criticized for their opposition to reform at the long and stormy According to Warsaw radio, three Politburo members, including Stefan Olszowski, tendered resignations, which subsequently were turned down. Given an opportunityto speak, the three lashed out harshly at Solidarity aHmmm
.k bilitV to retain their seats on the Politburo reflects the essential ccr-orvatism of the central Committee. Soviety have convinced many that the removal of hardliners-especially in the faceolidarity .trike throat and in response to spontaneous pressure fromhove signaled Moscow that accommodation had gained the day. Themay also have overplayed their hand by taking
. tlui8in int?thereby exposingto charges of
victory may prove to be pyrrhic. Their public exposure as hardliners and the view of many that they were retained merely to placate Moscow may limit their political clout in the longer term.
should
reveal whether the hardliners get their way on key policyimportantly on the incident at Bydgoszcz. The Politburo report delivered at yesterday* session was more conciliatory on this issue than thearlier statement, suggesting that the hard liners may have backed off. mmmmm
9that no hardliners were
Io pceBS ovon'irmly its fullRakowBkl and Walesa had appeared somewhat hopeful that progress was being made before the plenum, although this may have been meant more to influences party meeting than to describe an actual narrow ing of positions.
If the,talks fail, Solidarity seems committed to proceed with its general strike. The Politburo reportarticularly tough stance on this point, sayingtrike under current conditions would represent"truggle against the party and social! and would put Poland's ratmonxt to its ultimate test.
mart! 3u'tlf*osition of
moderates' failure seems certain to alienate
organizations, despite the
fforts yooterday to respond to local demand
1
for internal party reform. The Politburo report endorsed selection of party officiala byallot, annumber of candidates for the offices, and aon the terms of office. It also cam* close to favor-
the
Soviet Comment
Soviet rhetoric on Poland over the weekend reached
ftKh',Whlle lnitAal TASSthi8on
dopted appropriate decisions on the questions discussed. M
Moscow attempted to bolater the hand of theol7Bh Aeaderahlp going into the plenum by issuing media articles describing tha situation in.frms. The coverage implied that th* Polishwas losing the ability to maintain control. |
ASS dispatch froa Warsaw yesterday stated that solidarity is going over to open methods of struqqle"
tsxe-sss: ess It cited "Wruc-
dansk chapter calling-in the
rr?2= of all indus-
tries, communication facilities, and transportation.
TASS claimad, in fact, that Solidarity had already
*transmitter in Wa?
also made their most direct
t Che us Position onffeaident Reagan for his comments onpublished yesterday.
r-isi;9in ?i!undisguised and grossofASS wltio" t0 the
hl9hway in southeasternj^ti0nb,rr?refuted by Polishand by Solidarity.
More Soviet officiala late last week conveyedto western governments that Hos'cw views thein Poland as precarious and that it has the right to Intervene if need be. Tho Soviot Ambassador to Italyigh-ranking Italian Foreign Ministry official on Friday that Moscow's hopes that the Poles could handle their problems themselves had greatly diminished and that the Sovietsollapse of authority in Poland. The Ambassador expressed the "hope" that Soviet intervention could still be avoided but emphasized Moscow's vital tary, political, and economic equities in Poland, afj
'is almost as important to us as West Genoa
e member Arbatovn Thursday that the Vening by noting that Poland
is to you
Original document.
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