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Demonstrations in Poland in defence of democracy. [2554]
weren't old enough
Maybe not, but those who won out on the roundtable passed their (ill-gotten?) gains and cushy posts on to the next generation, creating post-communist mini-dynasties of the privileged.
The so-called "grass-roots" protest movement mainyl comprises an Obamesque liberal-libertine-leftstream camp allied with the banksters and disentitled nomenklatura. Seems like unlikely bedfellows, but when the "feed trough" is involved, those pushed away from it will seek out seemingly exotic allies. In a word, it's the elites - opportunistic radish communists and KOR-leaning Solidiarity leftists (Michnik & Co) - that struck the roundtable deal (Magdalenka and all that) and lived happily ever after vs those who lost out on the transformation and whose defender are now PiS. The continuing Polish-Polish war began during the Soldiarity "carnival" when the pro-KOR and "true Poles" factions first emerged. The roundtable and June 1989 election temporarily created the illusion of unity in the anti-PZPR camp, but the rifts re-emerged when Wałęsa launched his "war at the top" (worker Soldarity vs KOR and Katolewica). The battle lines got further entrenched in 1992 when Wałęsa realigned himself with Kuroń, Tusk, Kwaśniewski, Pawlak, et al to topple the Olszewski govt and stop the opening of declassified police files which identified him as an SB informer codenamed "Bolek". Today's KOD (Komitet Obrony Demokracji" are mostly middle-aged and elderly, the disentiteld beneficiaries of the roundtable with very few younger folk in their midst. Their opponents call it Komitet Obrony Koryta (Committee in Defense of the Trough).
PiS have been in power for only three months but already have succeeded in eneacitng key legislative measures reforming the Constitutional Court, law enforcement, public media and civil service. The economy is the most difficult to quickly dynamise, but the 500zł per 2nd child and bank and retail chain tax have been enacted and await implementation. We'll just have to wait and see how things turn out.
