Polish Progress

Parliamentary election results expected to be formalized in Poland today show that the former Communist nation has found its middle ground. Since breaking out of the Soviet Union's grip in 1989, the political pendulum has swung wildly in Poland from the Solidarity trade union, back to the leftist post-communists in 1995, and then to the far right wing in 2005. The vote on Sunday gave a 41.4% plurality to the centrist, pro-business Civic Platform, which plans to form a coalition with the Polish Peasants Party, which won 9% and represents farmers, an important part of the nation's economy. Our contributing editor, Alex Storozynski, sent us a wire yesterday characterizing the latest election results as meaning "that Poland has found its equilibrium. People voted with their pocketbooks and a strong desire for political stability."

For the past two years Poland has been governed by the conservative Law and Justice party, led by President Lech Kaczynski and his twin brother Jaroslaw, who, as a result of the latest vote, will be unseated as prime minister. The twins were elected in 2005 with a mandate to clean up corruption. Lacking a majority in Parliament, they formed a coalition with the fringe, "Self Defense" party, led by a former pig farmer with no college education, and "The League of Polish Families," a nationalistic, homophobic, anti-Semitic, party. The strange coalition was an awkward fit and fell apart this summer after it caused tumult at home and major disagreements with Poland's partners in the European Union and its eastern neighbor, Russia, which has been little but trouble for the Poles through much of history.

With their embarrassing allies and the first half of their name meaning "duck," the Kaczynski twins gave political satirists a field day with "quack" jokes. Their base was made up of rural voters, while the Civic Platform appealed to more urban and educated voters. One of the country's biggest problems is that, according to the British state broadcasting arm, the BBC, there are 850,000 Poles living in the British Isles, where they have been allowed to legally work ever since Poland joined the EU in 2004. A recent joke in Warsaw has been: How was Poland different during World War II than in 2007? Back then, the Polish government fled to exile in London and left the people at home. In 2007, the Polish people have fled and left the Kaczynskis at home.

In Sunday's election, the Kaczynskis' Law and Order Party received only 32% of the vote, and its two allies, each with 1.5% of the vote, have been knocked out of the government altogether, failing to reach the 5% threshold required for a seat in parliament. Even though Poland's economy is growing at the rate of 6% year, the majority of voters, Mr. Storozynski wired us, felt that the Kaczynskis were spending too much time dwelling on the past and too much money on social entitlements, rather than on economic issues and expanding the country's infrastructure, such as dealing with its lack of highways. Civic Platform's leader, Donald Tusk, who is likely to become prime minister when the new Parliament meets on November 5, has said that the new government's main goal will be to spur the economy by cutting red tape, expanding privatization, and passing a flat tax.

By our lights, it's hard to think of a better, more George-W.-Bush-like platform for economic growth and amity with America. Chalk it up as the latest evidence of error among those who caterwauled that President Bush would foul relations with the Europeans. The New Europe surges ahead. Democracy, too. The Civic Platform's promise of economic progress helped voter turnout soar to nearly 54% from the turnout of 40% on which the Kaczynskis came into power. Mr. Tusk hopes to lure back the brain drain of Polish workers in exile by finding ways for them to take advantage of EU membership at home.

While Tusk is pro-American, he touched a nerve among Polish voters by saying that Warsaw deserves better cooperation from Washington on security issues. Poland was one of the first countries to join the coalition of the willing to oust Saddam Hussein, but a recent poll found that 80% of Poles want their government to withdraw its troops from Iraq. They also want help from Washington in dealing with President Putin, who has been rattling his saber at Poland because it plans to allow the United States to place a missile defense shield on Polish soil. They'll deserve all the support the American administration can muster.