NATIONALIST POPULISM AND POST-COMMUNISM

4. Nationalist populism in the Polish and Slovak political discourses (1991–1992)

4.1. Nationalist populism in the Polish political discourse (1991)

4.1.1. Party manifestos The analysis of the language of the programme slogans of political parties competing in the elections and the related party documents is important from at least two points of view. First, the party manifestos represent not only the most important standpoints of particular political leaders, but also those of the most powerful political organisations. In most cases, the party manifestos are designed to represent the core points of the programme agenda of the political parties that have been reached after long discussions on the priorities and ideological orientation of a particular party. Secondly, the party manifestos represent an official position of the whole political party, and not just the positions of particular leaders. Although the party manifestos should primarily serve to attract potential voters, in fact, due to their limited accessibility by the public, the political parties do not consider them as the most powerful instrument of communication with their adherents. Nonetheless, their value for researchers is still quite high. The Polish elections held in 1991 were exceptional for several reasons. First, the 1989 elections, which were considered to be one of the most important outcomes of the famous Round Table negotiations, did not fully meet the criteria for free elections – therefore, only the 1991 elections can be considered as fully democratic. In 1989, the political parties were permitted to compete for only 35% of the seats in the Sejm, while 65% of the seats were automatically reserved for the deputies of the PZPR and her allies. 86 Therefore, the government of Tadeusz Mazowiecki might be labelled as a transitional government, whose role was to prepare the conditions for the first free elections. The first truly democratic elections to take place after the World War II were finally scheduled for September 1991.

86 The results of the elections were favourable for the so-called Solidarity camp. The deputies from “Lech’s group” – Komitet Obywatelski przy Lechu Wałesie – gained 35% seats in the Sejm and 99% seats in the Senat (the upper chamber of the Polish Parliament).

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