The Nonpartisan Bloc for Support of Reforms ( pl, Bezpartyjny Blok Wspierania Reform, BBWR) was an officially nonpartisan organization (but, in fact, a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

) affiliated with

Lech Wałęsa Lech Wałęsa (; ; born 29 September 1943) is a Polish statesman, dissident, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, who served as the President of Poland between 1990 and 1995. After winning the 1990 election, Wałęsa became the first democrat ...

. It was established in 1993 and in 1997 became part of Solidarity Electoral Action. It was founded to continue the traditions of

Józef Piłsudski Józef Klemens Piłsudski (; 5 December 1867 – 12 May 1935) was a Polish statesman who served as the Naczelnik państwa, Chief of State (1918–1922) and Marshal of Poland, First Marshal of Second Polish Republic, Poland (from 1920). He was ...

's pre-war

Nonpartisan Bloc for Cooperation with the Government The Nonpartisan Bloc for Cooperation with the Government ( pl, Bezpartyjny Blok Współpracy z Rządem, ; abbreviated ''BBWR'') was a "non-political" organization An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differen ...

('), which likewise had been known by the same initials, ''BBWR''. After local electoral losses in 1994, Wałęsa issued a statement that invoked comparisons with Piłsudski, who had become

dictator A dictator is a political leader who possesses absolute power. A dictatorship is a state ruled by one dictator or by a small clique. The word originated as the title of a Roman dictator elected by the Roman Senate to rule the republic in ti ...

of Poland: "When the time comes to introduce a dictatorship, the people will force me to accept this role, and I shall not refuse."Visions of the Past Are Competing for Votes in Poland

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

, September 12, 1993. "The kind of distant chauvinism Mr. Havel talked about is evident in symbols chosen by President Lech Walesa, the former Solidarity leader, who formed a new party two months ago to contest the elections and is calling it the "non-party movement for reform." Its acronym, BBWR, duplicates the initials of a "non-party party" led by Marshal Jozef Pilsudski, who seized dictatorial powers in a 1926 coup."

Notes

History of Poland (1989–present) Defunct political parties in Poland Lech Wałęsa {{poland-party-stub

See also

Notes