A Roundtable That Symbolized a Historic Transformation

Upon entering the presidential building, one is greeted by a roundtable kept behind bulletproof glass. A palace servant is tasked with refreshing the flowers in the pots daily. This roundtable, which has now existed for thirty years, has become a tourist attraction beyond its significant historical memory during a turbulent political period. Now, thousands of tourists visiting Poland stop by this site, watching the roundtable from behind the bulletproof glass. This roundtable was where, forty years ago, representatives from the communist government and the opposition, gathered in the Solidarity trade union, first sat down to redirect their disputes, which until then had been marked by opposition strikes, coups, and government crackdowns, towards a different path. In fact, the Polish opposition, beyond its emergence and courage, had the 'luck' that in 1979, ten years before the roundtable was formed, one of its compatriots (Pope John Paul II) was elected to lead the Catholic Church (Vatican) and, due to his immunity and influence, was able to coordinate extensive overt and covert assistance, from political to financial and propaganda, for the opposition with Western countries, including the United States. Thus, the Pope played a crucial behind-the-scenes role in the establishment of the roundtable that emerged ten years later. Ultimately, the Polish government, after seeing several years of often violent struggle and disputes with the opposition yield no results, was convinced that dialogue with opponents was a way for a peaceful transition that would also benefit the government and ruling party, allowing them to continue playing a role in the future political structure. Interestingly, Wojciech Jaruzelski, the general who staged a coup to quell the opposition's noise and, as later stated, to take away the pretext for Soviet intervention in Poland, is still respected by a significant portion of Poles due to his approach that subsequently shaped the roundtable and prevented further bloodshed and potential Soviet intervention. The roundtable, with a radius of 9 meters and a capacity of 57 people, experienced its first gathering of government and opposition representatives on February 6, 1989 (thirty years ago, on a day like yesterday). Negotiations lasted for two months, forming working groups and various commissions with the presence of 400 experts and political figures. They ultimately agreed that the Solidarity trade union (the main opposition group) would be recognized, part of the parliamentary seats (161 out of 460) would be subject to free elections, while the majority would remain reserved for the ruling party and its allies. There were no restrictions in the Senate, and the opposition won 99 out of 100 seats in the elections two months later. However, the composition of the government and its allies did not remain stable, and with some of these allies drawing closer, the formation of the government eventually fell into the hands of the opposition, leading to developments that are well known. The term 'refolution' (a combination of reform and revolution) was first used by a British historian (Timothy Garton Ash) to describe these Polish developments, where the political dispute over power was initially confronted directly by the government and opposition, and then advanced through negotiation and understanding. Nevertheless, despite this experience, the political culture in Poland (like most Eastern European countries) still suffers from intolerance and a tendency towards polarization, even though the two main parties currently on the political scene emerged from the same Solidarity movement. Many in Poland believe that the weakness of the left and liberals is a major factor in this political culture's weakness. This dispute has also led to differing evaluations of the roundtable experience at political levels. The conservative and populist Law and Justice Party (PiS) claims that although its leaders participated in that roundtable, they wish they had broken their legs to avoid participating, so that the soft transition would not have occurred, and the order of the ruling party and its cadres, who later could operate freely, would have been completely dismantled at that time. There is still a part of the party's activity focused on 'de-communization' and limiting both old and new leftists, and even recently, right-wing and more liberal counterparts who jointly sat as the opposition at the roundtable. The ruling party is also reluctant to hold a roundtable for any disputed issue, mainly referring to it as a 'table of understanding,' although at local levels, the roundtable has become one of the tools for resolving disputed issues. The fact that the ruling populist party still tolerates the existence of the historical roundtable of 1989 in a hall in the presidential palace may be attributed to the presence of a president who, although from the same party, is more tolerant than the party leader. However, the support that Polish society still has for the processes established behind the roundtable ensures that no one can dismiss or negate that experience and its symbol, an experience and symbol that remains a significant aspiration for any society facing blockage, including Iranian society.