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14 Constitution Making, Peace Building, and National Reconciliation The Experience of Poland Lech Garlicki and Zofia A. Garlicka he history of the Polish parliament May 23, 1935. It established the supremacy dates back to the fifteenth century. of the presidency over the other branches of Poland’s first written constitution— government, leaving only residual powers to Tthe first constitutional instrument in Eu- the parliament. World War II broke out four rope—was adopted on May 3, 1791, but years later, and Poland lost its independence unfortunately, it was never implemented due once again. to the collapse of the Polish state in 1795. After World War II, effective control over Nevertheless, it became a symbol of inde- the Polish territory passed to the Soviet- © Copyrightpendence and progress referred by to by historithe- Endowmentcontrolled government, which imposedof a ans as well as politicians. Soviet-style constitution on July 22, 1952. theIt Unitedwas the rebirth of aStates fully independent InstituteTheoretically, it granted of Peacequite formidable Poland after World War I that allowed powers to the unicameral parliament (the the creation of a modern constitution. The Sejm), but in reality, the Communist Party so-called March Constitution, adopted on (Polish United Workers Party) monopolized March 17, 1921, was inspired by concepts un- power. The party’s totalitarian grip on Poland derlying the constitution of the Third French relaxed after the social unrest of 1956, but Republic. It provided for a system of gov- the 1952 constitution remained intact. It was ernment based on the preeminent position significantly amended in 1976, but even then, of the parliament, especially its first chamber, its Soviet-oriented nature was preserved. In traditionally referred to as the Sejm. The par- summer 1980, the Solidarity movement, led liamentary system failed, however, to secure by Lech Walesa, started the final decline of proper functioning of the state machinery. the communist system, but another seven- A coup d’etat in 1926 was followed by the teen years passed before the first democratic so-called April Constitution, adopted on constitution in two centuries was adopted. 391 392 Lech Garlicki and Zofia Garlicka 1989: Round Table Agreement ing some of the most sensitive issues. Finally, and April Amendment the Round Table was convened in Febru- Poland’s democratic constitution entered into ary and early April 1989, and a compromise life on October 17, 1997, but the real begin- on most issues was reached and formulated into what became colloquially known as the ning of the end of the communist system 1 began in 1980. The shipyard strikes in sum- Round Table Agreement. The Round Table mer 1980 found their conclusion in so-called as such met only a few times; the real work agreements signed between the workers’ rep- was conducted in smaller committees (so- resentatives and the government. The Poro- called subtables) and working groups, and zumienie Gdanskie (Gdansk Agreement) the most important decisions were made by is the best-known example. This agreement agreement of the leaders of both camps. provided not only for social and economic The April agreement provided for several changes but, at least to some extent, inter- important political changes. First, the exist- vention in the very essence of the structure of ing parliament, the Sejm, would be dissolved 2 government: While it confirmed the “leading and new partly democratic elections would role of the Communist Party,” it allowed the be held in June 1989. Second, the 1952 con- establishment of independent trade unions. stitution would be amended to create the None of the agreements ever found a transla- second chamber of parliament, the Senate, as tion into constitutional law, but they exem- well as a new and powerful office of the pres- plified conflict resolution through peaceful ident. Because it was assumed that General means. In effect, the opposition—centered Jaruzelski would hold that office, the Com- around the Catholic Church and the Soli- munist Party felt assured that it would pre- darity trade union—gained sixteen precious serve control over the executive branch. Thus, months of legal existence. Even if the im- the president was given important indepen- position of martial law in December 1981 dent state powers at the expense of parlia- disrupted attempts at compromise and rec- ment, which the party no longer regarded as onciliation, the idea of political dialogue had reliable. not been discredited and would be revived In implementing the agreement, the first toward the end of the 1980s, in a completely step was for the Sejm, still in its old compo- ©different Copyright international and dome sticby setting. thesition, Endowment to amend the constitution. On Aprilof With the idea of political dialogue intact, 7, 1989, the so-called April Amendment the idea of a roundtable, gathering both the transformed the structure of both political quasi-illegalthe United opposition and representativesStates branches Institute of government. 3of While Peace the Sejm of the official regime, found understanding formally adopted it, the amendment was the and acceptance on both ends of the political product of political compromises concluded spectrum in summer 1988, even though there at the Round Table; the role of the members was no sign of economic recovery in sight and of parliament was limited to voting for what strikes were sweeping the country. The eco- was submitted to them. The amendment was nomic crisis led the moderate wing within the designed to satisfy both sides, and for this Communist Party, led by General Wojciech reason, it was much easier to see it as a tem- Jaruzelski and General Czeslaw Kiszczak, to porary compromise mechanism than it was seek cooperation with the opposition. The to appreciate its later role in restoring demo- parties then spent six months negotiating cratic constitutionalism in Poland. Most organizational aspects of the Round Table. people in April 1989 anticipated a long pe- These negotiations were held in secret, with riod of cohabitation between the old regime the Catholic Church mediating talks involv- and new political forces. Only a few could Framing the State in Times of Transition 393 sense that the entire communist system in and each of the committees established sev- Eastern Europe would collapse within the eral subcommittees and working groups, next nine months. inviting the advice of numerous Polish and foreign experts. The idea was to adopt a new constitution on May 3, 1991, to commemo- 1989–91: Transitory Parliament rate the anniversary of Poland’s first demo- and Constitution Writing cratic constitution, voted on May 3, 1791. The Round Table Agreement and April But the parallel existence of two consti- Amendment, as originally conceived, func- tutional committees resulted in a political tioned only for a very short time. By summer struggle. As Wiktor Osiatynski relates, 1989, it was clear that the Communist Party political ambitions and institutional rivalries could no longer maintain control over the surfaced at this point and have remained central newly elected Sejm, and consequently, Ta- to the entire constitution-making process . deusz Mazowiecki, one of the Solidarity lead- Initially, the Senate committee was willing to ers, became the prime minister. Six months cooperate with the freely elected 35 percent of later, the Communist Party ceased to exist4 the Sejm committee, but as the relationship be- tween the two houses gradually deteriorated, co- and the amended constitution began to op- operation between the two committees ceased. erate in a completely new setting. Political The Sejm and the Senate eventually produced parties used the democratic potential of the two different drafts. The versions were basically April Agreement to construct rules of parlia- irreconcilable and no arbiter existed who could mentary government. While Jaruzelski kept decide which draft should be submitted to a ref- the presidency until the end of 1990, he never erendum. Constitutional momentum was thus dissipated even before the first transitory Par- attempted to use his constitutional preroga- liament dissolved itself in the Fall of 1991.6 tives. Thus, the April Agreement ceased to guarantee the political distribution of power, Nevertheless, the process of constitution its originally intended principal function. writing had begun, and the drafts prepared At the same time, it became clear that and published by both committees delivered the old constitution had to be replaced with a starting point for further discussion. At the a new document.5 The existing constitu- same time, several political parties and pri- © Copyrighttion was adopted in 1952, atby the peak the of the Endowmentvate persons submitted their own of drafts or Stalinist regime in Poland. It was drafted in theses for the new constitution.7 language redolent with communist slogans Already in autumn 1989, political elites theand lackedUnited sufficient Statesguarantees and pro- Instituteas well as most scholars of realized Peace that some cedures to be judicially enforceable. While changes should be introduced immediately some important improvements were intro- into the existing constitution. Therefore, duced in the 1980s—particularly the 1982 another method of constitution writing amendment providing for the establishment emerged: fragmented amendments that re- of a constitutional court—there was no way moved most of the obsolete provisions of the to adjust the old text to new conditions and 1952 constitution and introduced new insti- no reason to keep the old constitution alive. tutions and concepts into its text.8 Toward Already in autumn 1989, both chambers the end of 1989, the so-called December of parliament separately appointed constitu- Amendment deleted the first two chapters tional committees and entrusted them with of the constitution and introduced new prin- the task of preparing full drafts of the new ciples of constitutional order, mainly follow- constitution. Both committees were com- ing Western concepts of the rule of law, po- posed of members of the respective houses, litical pluralism, and protection of property.

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