World

POLAND Never Say Never In a surprise move, the regime proposes legalizing Solidarity The turnabout was breathtaking. As the Central Committee of the Polish Communist Party met in Warsaw last week for an often bitter session that lasted until 3 a.m. the second day, General Wojciech Jaruzelski and several of his top aides threatened to resign unless the party approved a resolution paving the way for legalization of the outlawed Solidarity trade union. This was the same Jaruzelski who cracked down hard on Solidarity and spearheaded its outlawing after he proclaimed martial law in 1981. At stake in the remarkable turn of events was not only Jaruzelski's political credibility but the economic direction of a nation seething with frustration over falling living standards, rampant inflation and endless food shortages. "Everyone is angry, anxious about the future, and this inevitably filters into the party and creates a crisis situation," Jaruzelski told the session. "This is why such fundamental changes have to be made." But Edward Sawicki, a Central Committee member from the official O.P.Z.Z. trade unions, expressed the fears of many in the government when he said legalizing opposition in any enterprises would be like "introducing a Trojan horse" into Polish factories. The committee eventually voted to invite Solidarity back into the fold, but not without a harness. According to the three-page document, the government is "in favor of lifting -- under conditions of a national agreement -- restrictions on establishing trade unions." Among the conditions that the unions (read Solidarity) must meet: renouncing all foreign financial support -- including U.S. aid -- and vowing to suppress any attempt by its members to hold public demonstrations or marches. The statement proposes that the timetable for introducing trade-union pluralism should be reached at "round- table talks" that include the government, Solidarity leader Lech Walesa and other groups. Jaruzelski left little doubt that his new approach to Solidarity was motivated by the realization that his only hope for revitalizing the Polish economy lay in enlisting the cooperation of the country's disaffected workers. It is also a tacit acknowledgment that both Jaruzelski's economic policies and his efforts to stifle Walesa and Solidarity have failed. When the general was asked if he would be willing to meet with Walesa, whom he interned in 1981 for eleven months, Jaruzelski replied, "Never say never." Invited to participate in a dialogue with the government last August, Walesa refused on the grounds that Warsaw must first legalize Solidarity. Though Jaruzelski's proposal last week did not entirely satisfy Walesa's demand, opposition leaders predicted that the Solidarity leader will agree to join the talks. "If we blow it here, other people will have to deal with the same problem again," said Walesa, who promised a decision soon. "I don't want my son or his generation to live through such things again, where it all accumulates, rots and then explodes."