POLISH LEFTIST LEADER OUTLINES RECOVERY STRATEGY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 WARSAW 001408

SIPDIS

EUR/CE FOR PIERANGELO, MORRIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 12/09/2018
TAGS: PREL PGOV MARR PL
SUBJECT: POLISH LEFTIST LEADER OUTLINES RECOVERY STRATEGY

Classified By: Ambassador Victor Ashe, Reason 1.4 (d)


1. (C) SUMMARY: Grzegorz Napieralski, Chairman of the
Democratic Left Alliance (SLD),blasted the intransigence of
the ruling Civic Platform (PO) party, a stance that has
forced the SLD into tactical alliances with President
Kaczynski and the Law and Justice (PiS) party on some votes.
Despite his own party's internal battles -- he narrowly
ousted moderate rival Wojciech Olejniczak in May for the
party chairmanship -- Napieralski expressed confidence in
plans to build a united left that will support a common slate
for the June 2009 Europarliament elections and, eventually, a
single candidate for the Polish presidential elections in

2010. The slowing economy may revive the left somewhat, but
Napieralski's small and badly divided party faces a long road
back to power. END SUMMARY.


2. (C) Grzegorz Napieralski told the Ambassador December 9
that the ruling Civic Platform (PO) party was worried about
the deepening international financial crisis, and many
members are calling for early elections before the party
loses popularity. Napieralski said the PO's "arrogance" in
dealing with other parties was based on high ratings in
public opinion polls; the ratings and the arrogance are only
now starting to fade. He said he had reached out to the PO
shortly after his May election as head of the SLD, but the PO
ignored his call for compromise along the lines of similar PO
compromises with its left-leaning coalition partner, the
Polish People's Party (PSL).


3. (C) On the other hand, Napieralski chuckled, President
Kaczynski was "too eager" to meet with him, although too many
meetings would not be good for the SLD. (COMMENT: In
August, Napieralski met with the President and agreed to help
sustain the presidential veto of a PO-proposed media law when
PO-SLD talks broke down. The move cleverly positioned the
SLD to be the tie-breaker on votes to overturn vetoes, but it
cost the SLD public support, since many erstwhile backers
were appalled by cooperation with the party's arch-enemy,
PiS. END COMMENT.)


4. (C) The most bruising party fights are internal ones,
Napieralski said, referring to his ongoing battle to remove
Wojciech Olejniczak as the party's parliamentary caucus
chairman, after ousting him as party chairman in a May SLD
election. However, he expressed optimism about the prospects
for a united left slate of candidates for the Euro parliament
elections in June 2009, particularly now that the rival
Social Democracy of Poland party (SDPL) is splitting.
Napieralski was to fly December 9 to Brussels for a meeting
with Poul Rasmussen, head of the European Socialist Party.
He said he hoped to increase SLD's delegation from 8 to 10
Euro deputies, by picking up backers of two extreme parties,
Self-Defense (SO) and the League of Polish Families (LPR),
which are no longer represented in Poland's national
parliament. Napieralski hoped to announce the slate of SLD
Europarliament candidates around New Year's.


5. (C) Napieralski said he would not run for the presidency
in the June 2010 elections, but he planned to announce in the
summer a single candidate of the left. He said Poles were
tired of the bickering between the likely right-wing
candidates, Prime Minister Tusk and President Kaczynski; it
would be unhelpful to announce a SLD candidate at this time,
since he or she would constantly be called upon to comment on
the Tusk-Kaczynski feud. Napieralski reiterated that under
President Kwasniewski, co-habitation had been much smoother,
and arguments between the President and Prime Minister were
kept private.


6. (C) Napieralski said that if elected, an SLD government
would focus on better jobs with decent wages, education
(particularly higher education),and foreign policy. He said
the SLD would maintain the strong relationship with the U.S.,
pursue effective integration within the EU, and serve as a
better bridge between Russia, on the one hand, and the U.S.
and the EU on the other. He acknowledged that Polish-Russian
relations had improved under the Tusk government, but not
enough, in his view. Napieralski said his party would oppose
Missile Defense, since it preferred a "diplomatic
resolution;" did not support a system that only protected the
U.S.; and did not see how the program would protect the
United States from terrorists. (COMMENT: He appeared to see
MD as focused against a threat from Al Qaeda rather than
Iran. END COMMENT.) He accepted the Ambassador's offer to
set up an Embassy briefing on MD.


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7. (C) Biographical note: Napieralski pointed out that his
home is in Szczecin, the furthest point from Warsaw in
Poland. He lamented the poor air and road connections to
Szczecin from Warsaw, that complicated his weekend visits to
his wife and young daughters. Napieralski's older daughter,
a five-year-old, recently went to the hospital emergency room
with a medical condition that doctors have thus far been
unable to diagnose.


8. (C) COMMENT: The SLD's current small size has not made
for cohesion. Napieralski barely defeated Olejniczak, a
representative of SLD moderates and an advocate of
collaboration with the PO, in the May election for the party
chairmanship; other moderate heavyweights like former
Interior Minister Ryszard Kalisz threaten to leave the party
if Napieralski takes the party too far to the left. A recent
poll of SLD members reflected some surprisingly pro-business
views for a party of the left, and a near-even split on
fundamental issues, from gay rights to the role of former
President Kwasniewski. Some question Napieralski's strategy
for unifying the Polish left; a Rzeczpospolita interviewer
told Napieralski that a number of SLD members believe he is
just as heavy-handed in his talks with small left-wing
parties as the PO is with him.
ASHE