WARSAW: The safe prediction about the presidency of Aleksander Kwasniewski is that predictions will be unsafe. The politician in Mr Kwasniewski (most of the man) was schooled in a communist party which taught its pupils to dance to the tune of the hour. The way in which he reconstructed in part the communist machine after its collapse in 1989 confirms Kwasniewski as a nimble-footed leaper on opportunities rather than a plodder after principles. And the platform on which he rolled into the presidency of Poland turns out to consist of four pairs of roller skates pointing to the West, to the East, to the future, and to the past. Such a man, on such a vehicle, could end up anywhere even if he declares that his real objectives are the future and the West.
WARSAW: The safe prediction about the presidency of Aleksander Kwasniewski is that predictions will be unsafe. The politician in Mr Kwasniewski (most of the man) was schooled in a communist party which taught its pupils to dance to the tune of the hour. The way in which he reconstructed in part the communist machine after its collapse in 1989 confirms Kwasniewski as a nimble-footed leaper on opportunities rather than a plodder after principles. And the platform on which he rolled into the presidency of Poland turns out to consist of four pairs of roller skates pointing to the West, to the East, to the future, and to the past. Such a man, on such a vehicle, could end up anywhere even if he declares that his real objectives are the future and the West.