Kwasniewski, << kvahsh NYEV skee, >> Aleksander (1954-…), served as president of Poland from 1995 to 2005. In elections in 1995, Kwasniewski defeated former Solidarity leader Lech Walesa, who was running for a second term as president. In 2000, Kwasniewski was elected to a second term. Under Kwasniewski, Poland continued economic and political reforms and sought closer ties to its European neighbors.
Kwasniewski was born in Bialogard in northwestern Poland. In the late 1970’s, while studying economics at Gdansk University, he joined the Socialist Union of Polish Students (SZSP), a Communist organization. In 1981, he became editor in chief of a weekly Communist student newspaper. In 1984, he was named editor in chief of the daily newspaper Sztandar Mlodych (Banner of Youth). In 1985, the prime minister of Poland’s Communist government appointed Kwasniewski minister for youth and sports. Kwasniewski held that post until 1990.
In 1989, reforms ended Communist single-party rule in many countries of eastern Europe. In Poland, Kwasniewski was part of a Communist delegation that met with Lech Walesa and other leaders of Solidarity, an organization of labor unions, to discuss government reforms. As a result of the talks, non-Communist candidates were allowed to run for legislative seats in the 1989 elections, Poland’s freest elections since the Communists took control of the country in 1945.
In 1990, Poland’s Communist Party was dissolved. Kwasniewski and other former members of the party founded the Social Democratic Party, which later became part of a coalition called the Democratic Left Alliance. In 1991, Kwasniewski won election to the Sejm, the lower house of Poland’s parliament. In 1993, he was appointed chairperson of the Sejm’s constitutional committee. In 1995, after he was elected president, Kwasniewski resigned from the Social Democratic Party. He said he wanted to make it clear that he would treat all Poles equally, regardless of their political beliefs.
