Word: kania
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...could accept a certain amount of pluralism in Poland as long as a strong party retained a firm grip on the reins. But therein lies another political hazard-for the Polish party itself seems bent on reversing Leninist orthodoxy. In a watershed decision two weeks ago, Party Boss Stanislaw Kania bowed to rank-and-file demands and announced that delegates to July's party congress would be elected by secret ballot from an unlimited list of candidates. Until now, most delegates were chosen by the party leadership according to the Leninist principle of "democratic centralism"-meaning that power flows...
...reforms were already affecting the country's political customs. Looking incongruously like Western politicians on the hustings, officials fanned out across the country last week to meet with factory-level party units and solicit their support. Applause was not always forthcoming. At the Lenin Shipyard in Gdansk, Kania fielded sharp questions and criticisms from about 3,000 local party members. Demanded one worker: "Now we ask you, Comrade Kania, if you will help us carry out the renewal of the party and the nation. If not, we shall do it by ourselves." That bold assertion drew a standing ovation...
...would probably have no immediate need to go in. Brezhnev himself reportedly requested that Olszowski be sent to represent the Polish party in Prague last week, and the two men held long consultations there. Some Western analysts speculated that a new party shake-up might soon substitute Olszowski for Kania, whose name went conspicuously unmentioned at the Prague congress...
Still playing it tough -perhaps to appease the Kremlin-the government responded with a volley of menacing statements. Pointing to the country's desperate economic plight, Kania angrily demanded: "Who has the boldness to turn a local incident into a national affair threatening catastrophe...
...could dispute Kania's claim that the economy was in dire straits. With a $27 billion foreign debt, runaway inflation and falling production, Poland was on the verge of economic collapse. Panic buying aggravated an already critical food shortage; practically nothing was available except beans and vinegar. New rationing measures seemed imminent when the government announced that it had only twelve days of food supplies left. Both the U.S. and the European Community offered to send foodstuffs and financial aid; the announcements were obviously timed to encourage a peaceful resolution of the latest crisis...