
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: MONDAY, September 20, 1993                   TAG: 9309200083
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WARSAW, POLAND                                LENGTH: Short

LEFTISTS WIN POLISH ELECTIONS

Former Communists and other leftists who advocate restoring parts of the socialist security blanket appeared the big winners Sunday in parliamentary elections.

Unofficial early results showed the largely former Communist Democratic Left Alliance and the leftist Polish Peasant's Party winning one-third of the vote. A splintered result was putting seven parties or alliances into Parliament.

Hit by voter dissatisfaction with the painful transition to a free market, Prime Minister Hanna Suchocka's Democratic Union party finished third with 10.8 percent.

As the top vote-getter with 19.4 percent, the alliance would have first shot at putting together a new governing coalition, although there was no guarantee it could succeed.

It was not clear to what extent, if any, reforms might be rolled back under a new government. The former Communists have said they want Poland to have a Western-style market economy - with some alterations.

- Associated Press

by CNB