The Appearance of Change

Martial law is lifted, but the government's powers increase

Without his forbidding dark glasses, speaking calmly, General Wojciech Jaruzelski seemed eager to soften his stony image as he began addressing the Sejm, Poland's rubber-stamp parliament. "The introduction of martial law was not a universal medicine for our illnesses," he declared. "It was an act of defense, a necessity." The general then made a long-anticipated announcement: after 19 months, martial law would be lifted the next day, Poland's National Day. But Jaruzelski also issued a stern warning: "Any attempts at antistate activity will be curbed no less aggressively than during martial law."

Indeed, the lifting of martial law will have a negligible effect on most Poles. Earlier in the week, the Sejm approved a constitutional amendment that gave the government substantial new powers. The Premier was granted the authority to declare a state of emergency whenever necessary, and the definition of "antistate activities" was broadened. In addition parliament passed several measures that would apply during a 29-month "transition" period. It set the official work week at 48 hours, eliminating the free Saturdays won by Solidarity. It also gave the government the right to force people who quit their jobs to take new employment for up to a year at the lowest legal wage. The Sejm had intended to draw up new regulations giving the authorities freer rein to make arrests. But Jozef Cardinal Glemp, Poland's Roman Catholic Primate, issued a letter of protest, reminding the authorities that a further tightening of the legal noose would run counter to the spirit of Pope John Paul II's meetings with Jaruzelski last month. As a result, parliament agreed to reconsider the proposals.

Just before Jaruzelski spoke, the Sejm gave its final approval to an amnesty bill that, claimed Deputy Minister of Justice Tadeusz Skdra, would apply to 190 political prisoners and 465 persons awaiting trial. All women, all persons who were under 21 at the time of their arrest, and anyone serving a sentence of three years or less would be released. Those with prison terms of more than three years would have their sentences cut in half. Not covered are 60 former leaders of Solidarity and of the Committee for Social Self-Defense (K.O.R.), a dissident group.

In an attempt to lure out of hiding the 60 to 80 Solidarity activists who went underground when martial law was declared, the government promised not to prosecute any activists who turned themselves in before Oct. 31. But Zbigniew Bujak, former director of Solidarity's Warsaw branch, declared that the union's leadership would wait for a full, unconditional amnesty. Former Solidarity Leader Lech Walesa, who was released from detention last November, said that the government's new measures were worse than martial law and would only "dig a wider gulf between the government and the governed."

Jaruzelski hopes that the government's moves will persuade the U.S. and other Western nations to lift economic sanctions and help Poland avoid defaulting on its $26 billion foreign debt. Although Washington had made ending martial law a precondition for lifting sanctions, President Reagan reacted to last week's news with caution. "We're going to go by deeds, not words," he told a White House press conference. "What we want to be on guard for is having a cosmetic change in which they replace martial law with equally onerous regulations." This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.