Kwaśniewski, Aleksander (1954—)

Aleksander Kwaśniewski served as the president of Poland from 1995 to 2005. During the communist era, he was active in the communist Socialist Union of Polish Students. He was a former leader of the left-wing Social Democracy of the Republic of Poland, successor to the former ruling Polish United Workers Party, and later of the Democratic Left Alliance.

When communism finally declined in Poland, Kwaśniewski participated in the Roundtable negotiations, where he cochaired the task group for trade union pluralism. Running for the Sejm from the Warsaw constituency in 1991, Kwaśniewski won the largest number of votes and headed the parliamentary caucus of the Democratic Left Alliance in his first and second terms. He was a member of the Foreign Affairs Committee and chairman of the ...