Initiatives of Change - Detailed view of For A Change Articles

Six members of the Polish Parliament (Sejm), one of President Walesa's Secretaries of State and local leaders from Gdansk, Lodz and Kielce were among those attending a seminar in Oslo on the theme `moral and spiritual foundations of democracy and the structures that make it work' earlier this summer. The event followed a similar seminar last year (see For A Change June 1990).

Among the Norwegian public figures who gave lectures were a former Prime Minister, the General Secretary of the Labour Party and senior representatives of the ministries dealing with environmental protection and ethnic minorities. The Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Parliament, the Vice-Chairman of the Christian Democrats and a Conservative MP spent time with the Polish delegates discussing a political culture which allows a conflict of ideas without personal enmity.

Evenings were spent discussing more intimate themes such as `honesty in personal and public life', `hatred or forgiveness' and `how to make the right decisions under pressure'. One evening 10 young people invited the whole Polish group to one of their homes to tell what their Christian commitment meant to them.

Decisive
The polarization of Polish political life was reflected in the group, which had representatives from the main political blocks. Yet despite a difficult start, one MP was able to say before leaving that he was convinced the friendships between them would last. A woman colleague of his from the opposite camp added, `We have never had time for talks like this. Couldn't we have similar seminars in Poland?' And a third concluded: `A form of fellowship has grown between us. A high moral standard is basic, and these 10 days have proved a most decisive element for us as politicians.'