ABSTRACT
T he concept of Lech Walesa as communist 'agent Bolek' would have been funny had it not been so tragically serious for Poland's burgeoning economy and political landscape. Through the spring and early summer of 1992 normal, or at least constructive, political activity was suspended as politicians grappled with revelations concerning attempted coups and claims that some of the most famous anticommunist warriors were in fact signed up agents of the former security apparatus. So, instead of attention being focussed on getting the budget through the Sejm or perhaps on the complex question of a new constitution, Poles were fed a diet of innuendo and intrigue which did little to improve the tarnished reputation of politics in a country where people yearn for the fruits of capitalism and are less and less enamoured by their recently won democracy. And though the formation of Hanna Suchocka's Democratic Union-led coalition government in midsummer did much to enhance Poland's reputation abroad, it did little to quell the interminable cacophany of charge and counter-charge which appeared to consume the interest of the nation's politicians.
