TIME: Almanac 1990/1990 Time Magazine Compact Almanac, The (1991)(Time).iso/time/082889/08288900.035

Text File | 1990-09-17 | 2KB | 32 lines

WORLD, Page 17

In the Driver's Seat


    It could have happened to anybody, anytime, but for Tadeusz
Mazowiecki the moment was rich with irony. The tall Solidarity
official had just wound up meetings with President Jaruzelski and
Jozef Cardinal Glemp last week when his car sputtered to a halt.
When questioned by reporters about the difficulties he would face
as Poland's new Prime Minister, Mazowiecki answered, "My biggest
problem is that I ran out of gas."

    The comment was a rare flash of public humor from a man who at
times has been perceived as taciturn, even dour. No one, however,
questions Mazowiecki's integrity or the depth of his commitment to
Solidarity. Perhaps as important, says an old friend, Adam Bromke,
"he is a man who has the courage to say what is unpopular." Born
in the central Polish town of Plock, Mazowiecki (pronounced
Mah-zoh-vyet-skee), 62, is a devout Roman Catholic with strong ties
to church activists who oppose Communist ideology. A close adviser
to Lech Walesa, Mazowiecki helped form the union in 1980 and was
jailed for a year after the government crackdown in 1981. Trained
as a lawyer, he is editor of the union weekly, Tygodnik
Solidarnosc, and was a key negotiator in the round-table talks that
led to legalization of Solidarity and opposition participation in
last June's elections.

    A father of three sons, whose wife died of cancer in 1970,
Mazowiecki is learning how to live in the media spotlight. When
reporters asked who would serve in his government, he replied, "I
have to think for a while. There is no time, but still I need some
time." Then, as the cameras turned away, Mazowiecki seemed
relieved. "Finally," he said, "I can have a smoke."