Back Europe: Central & Eastern: Poland Background Following the September 1997 parliamentary elections, the right-of-center Solidarity Election Action coalition and the centrist Freedom Union formed a governing coalition, deposing the post-communist Democratic Left Alliance and Polish Peasant's League. While in many areas ideological differences persist between left and right-wing political groups over Poland's political past and current transition,a consensus exists among parties and within the electorate on the fundamentals of Poland's democratic political system, market economy, and integration into European and Atlantic structures. In July, the Solidarity-led government passed a much- anticipated administrative reform package, reducing the country's provinces from 49 to 16. The government also introduced a new layer of government, between provincial and municipal governments. More than 45 percent of Poland's citizenry participated in local elections on October 11 (up from 34 percent in 1994). The Solidarity Election Action (AWS) and the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) won clear victories while the Social Alliance (PS) - a new coalition of the Polish Peasant Party, the Union of Labor and the National Pensioners' Party - emerged as the third strongest political power.  The Freedom Union (UW) placed fourth, losing a significant percentage of its electorate from the last local elections.  Local Election Results Regional Councils 63,765 seats   AWS 10,613 seats (16.6%) SLD 8,840 seats (13.9%) PS 4,583 seats  (7.2%) UW 1,146 seats (1.8%) * 38,156 seats (more than half of the available positions) were won by electoral committees with no party affiliation. 16 Provincial Councils SLD will govern 9 councils AWS will govern 6 councils The AWS-UW coalition will govern in the Silesian province. NDI's Programs in Poland In January 1996, with funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), NDI began a program to assist political parties in organizational development and public outreach at the local level. From its Warsaw office, NDI's resident representative and three Polish staff, along with experts from North America and Western Europe, have worked with more than 2,500 political party leaders, candidates and activists from eight political parties and the Solidarity trade union in more than 25 cities. Throughout Poland, hundreds of additional activists have benefited from NDI training materials. NDI's training centered on long-term party development (branch organization, membership and volunteer recruitment, headquarter-branch relations, fundraising), as well as on election-related themes including election plans, organization, voter contact, and message development and delivery. In preparation for the October local elections, NDI provided training for party branches and candidates, as well as summer training camps for young activists from the Solidarity Election Action, Democratic Left Alliance, Freedom Union,  the Movement for the Reconstruction of Poland and the Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland. Training programs centered around membership recruitment, fund raising and door-to-door solicitation. Women and Youth Programs An integral component of NDI's program is to augment the political participation of women and youth by improving their political skills and strengthening their presence in party ranks.  As a result of NDI's multipartisan training components and conferences, women and youth from opposing parties fostered friendships, thereby helping to reduce longstanding political animosities between the Solidarity and post-communist blocs which have recently impeded the political transition process. Study Missions Major highlights of NDI's program have been work/study missions to the United Kingdom in which Polish activists have worked side by side with their British counterparts in the Tory and Labour parties in preparation for parliamentary and local elections. Participants have participated in a broad scope of intensive grassroots activity and have applied such skills in their own election activities as candidates, election managers and volunteers. "Many AWS activists who were trained by NDI succeeded in the election as well as brought a lot of new ways of running election campaigns into the Polish perspective...In my opinion the trips to Great Britain are very valuable for political party activists who can later use their British experience during the Polish elections." - Ryszard Czarnecki, Former Chair of the European Integration Committee In September 1998, NDI hosted 11 Serbian political activists to take part in the Polish election campaign. Serbian activists campaigned with local candidates, met with national campaign managers, and conferred with local and national journalists to consider media coverage of the campaign.   Unlike a study mission to a western-style democratic country such as the United Kingdom, this program represented the first "East-East" political party exchange for NDI. Training of Trainers NDI's "train the trainer's" program, which commenced in January 1998, trained a multipartisan group of 16 individuals from the Solidarity Election Action, Democratic Left Alliance and Freedom Union to serve as internal party trainers. NDI provided specialized training to these activists so that they could assist in political party work. More important,NDI's training provided long-term skills with which they could continue training after NDI's departure from Poland. European Institute for Democracy NDI also assisted with the creation of a Polish non-governmental organization in Warsaw, the European Institute for Democracy (EID). The mandate of this organization was to support democratic transitions in Poland and in the surrounding former Soviet bloc countries.  EID, headed by two former NDI staff and a number of trainers, will educate political parties on general development in addition to working intensively with women and youth activists using principles developed through similar work generated by NDI's programs. NDI completed its two-and-a-half year political party building program in Poland in November 1998. Contact Information For more information on NDI's programs in Poland, please contact: Robert Benjamin, Regional Director Send Email Back