Suffrage: universal at age 18
Elections: Senate—last held 4 and 18 June 1989 (next to be held June 1993); results—percent of vote by party NA; seats—(100 total) Solidarity 99, independent 1;
National Assembly—last held 4 and 18 June 1989 (next to be held June 1993); results—percent of vote by party NA; seats—(460 total) Communists 173, Solidarity 161, Polish Peasant Party 76, Democratic Party 27, Christian National Union 23; note—rules governing the election limited Solidarity's share of the vote to 35% of the seats; future elections are to be freely contested
Communists: 70,000 members in the Communist successor party (1990)
Other political or pressure groups: powerful Roman Catholic Church;
Confederation for an Independent Poland (KPN), a nationalist group;
Solidarity (trade union); All Poland Trade Union Alliance (OPZZ),
populist program; Clubs of Catholic Intellectuals (KIKs); Freedom and
Peace (WiP), a pacifist group; Independent Student Union (NZS)
Member of: CCC, CEMA, Council of Europe, FAO, GATT, IAEA, IBEC,
ICAO, ICES, IHO, ILO, ILZSG, IMO, IPU, ISO, ITC, ITU, UN, UNESCO,
UPU, WFTU, WHO, Warsaw Pact, WIPO, WMO
Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Jan KINAST; Chancery at 2640 16th
Street NW, Washington DC 20009; telephone (202) 234-3800 through 3802; there are
Polish Consulates General in Chicago and New York;
US—Ambassador-designate Thomas SIMONS, Jr.; Embassy at Aleje
Ujazdowskie 29/31, Warsaw (mailing address is
APO New York 09213); telephone [48] 283041 through 283049; there is a US
Consulate General in Krakow and a Consulate in Poznan
Flag: two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red—a crowned eagle is to be added; similar to the flags of Indonesia and Monaco which are red (top) and white
- Economy Overview: The economy, except for the agricultural sector, had followed the Soviet model of state ownership and control of the country's productive assets. About 75% of agricultural production had come from the private sector and the rest from state farms. The economy has presented a picture of moderate but slowing growth against a background of underlying weaknesses in technology and worker motivation. GNP increased between 3% and 6% annually during the period 1983-1986, but grew only 2.5% and 2.1% in 1987 and 1988, respectively. Output dropped by 1.5% in 1989. The inflation rate, after falling sharply from the 1982 peak of 100% to 22% in 1986, rose to a galloping rate of 640% in 1989. Shortages of consumer goods and some food items worsened in 1988-89. Agricultural products and coal have remained the biggest hard currency earners, but manufactures are increasing in importance. Poland, with its hard currency debt of approximately $40 billion, is severely limited in its ability to import much-needed hard currency goods. The sweeping political changes of 1989 disrupted normal economic channels and exacerbated shortages. In January 1990, the new Solidarity-led government adopted a cold turkey program for transforming Poland to a market economy. The government moved to eliminate subsidies, end artificially low prices, make the zloty convertible, and, in general, halt the hyperinflation. These financial measures are accompanied by plans to privatize the economy in stages. Substantial outside aid will be needed if Poland is to make a successful transition in the 1990s.
GNP: $172.4 billion, per capita $4,565; real growth rate - 1.6% (1989 est.)