Okrągły stół

The Round Table. Was it worth it? In 1989 Realists were on both sides of the political contention. Realists from the Communist party thought it was necessary to make changes that would prevent the outbreak of social discontent. They also wanted to partly shift the responsibility for the condition of the state onto the opposition. Realists from the Solidarity camp thought the offer of the Communist was acceptable, and that the Solidarity should wait for further developments strengthening itself. Each group had to overcome its inner opponents and eventually a concept of the compromise prevailed. It saved the first group from bearing consequences for the times of dictatorship, and allowed the second group to build up a sovereign, democratic state. However, the victory of the latter turned out to be illusory as Communists settled down within democratic structures, infesting them with pathologies of the their system: corruption, bribery, impunity of secret services, dependency of courts and ideological deviations.