On June 4, 1989, for the first time after World War Two, Poles took part in what were partially-free parliamentary elections. Solidarity scored a landslide victory, winning all the seats that it was allowed to contest.
Report by Michal Kubicki.
Even though this was a negotiated transition of power which came as a result of the Round Table talks with the communists, from today’s perspective the day is recalled as the day of the collapse of the regime.
The president of Warsaw Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz says that the anniversary of the 1989 elections should be a festival of joy and unity. ‘We should all be together in the heart of Warsaw on that day, those who were active in the democratic opposition at that time, those who were students and the young people of today. A sense of community is something that always gives us strength’.
The organizers of the events on June 4 hope that the people of Warsaw will be able to sense something of the unique atmosphere of that day. Exhibitions and multimedia installations in the city centre are to highlight the main developments in Poland from the emergence of the democratic opposition in the mid-1970s to the historic elections. There will be meetings with prominent members of anti-communist opposition and an open-air concert of rock groups which topped popularity charts two decades ago, such as Lady Pank, Perfect and Republika.