1990 Lech Wałęsa Becomes Poland’s First President Elected by Popular Vote
In 1985, Mikhail Gorbachev, a reformer, became the leader of the Soviet Union. Under the relaxed rules of the Gorbachev regime, Polish political prisoners were released, and members of Solidarity were granted amnesty.
However, Poland’s economy was in worse condition than ever. When a new wave of strikes washed over Poland, the Communist government decided to negotiate. A series of sessions, called the Roundtable Talks, lasted three months and, once again, Solidarity was legalized.
The Communist regime had attempted to rig elections to keep their party in power. But miraculously, Solidarity candidates captured all of the elected seats they were allowed to compete for in the parliament and 99 out of the 100 seats available in the senate. Many of the Communist candidates failed to gain even the minimum number of votes required to capture the seats reserved for them. As a result, a new non-communist government, the first of its kind in Communist Europe, was sworn in September 13, 1989. In 1990, Lech Wałęsa, the leader of the Solidarity movement, became the first president of Poland to be elected by popular vote.