Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, July 17, 1990 TAG: 9007170115
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A8 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WARSAW, POLAND LENGTH: Medium
The movement, called Democratic Action, said it would try to present a "strong alternative" to the 2-month-old Center Alliance, which backs Solidarity leader Walesa and wants him named president by parliament this year.
The political movement's formation comes a few days after Prime Minister Tadeusz Mazowiecki and Walesa declared a political truce in their feud over the pace of political and economic changes.
More than 90 people attended the founding meeting held at Parliament. Those attending include many of the 63 senior advisers and longtime Solidarity activists who broke ranks with Walesa at a stormy June 24 meeting of the national Citizens Committee, which Walesa controls.
The group's leaders include Zbigniew Bujak, former Warsaw regional leader of Solidarity and the head of the Solidarity underground during the martial-law period, and Wladyslaw Frasyniuk, the longtime leader of Solidarity in Lower Silesia.
The new movement scheduled a founding congress for July 28, and representatives said they intended to meet with Solidarity members of both houses of parliament this Friday to invite them to join the movement.
Bujak and Fransyniuk were once regarded as Walesa's potential heirs within Solidarity. But in recent months they have distanced themselves from him, complaining about his autocratic style.
The group's first demand is for popular presidential elections this year.
Both Center Alliance and Democratic Action presume President Wojciech Jaruzelski, the former Communist Party leader, will be persuaded to resign well ahead of his scheduled 1995 departure.
by CNB