Marian Krzaklewski

Marian Krzaklewski
Krzaklewski in 2007
Member of the Sejm
In office 20 October 1997 – 18 October 2001
Personal details
Born	(1950-08-23)23 August 1950 Kolbuszowa,Poland
Political party	Solidarity Electoral Action
Other political affiliations	Civic Platform(2009)

Marian Krzaklewski(Polish pronunciation:[ˈmarjankʂaˈklɛfskʲi];born 23 August 1950 inKolbuszowa) is a Polish politician. A member ofSolidaritysince the 1980s, he was one of the most known and influential Polish politicians in the late 1990s, when he created theSolidarity Electoral Action(AWS).The AWS coalition, especially when it joined forces with Freedom Union, was a major accomplishment in Polish politics, transforming the fragmented post-Solidarity camp into a powerful political force.

Krzaklewski studied information science fromPolitechnika Śląskaand holds a PhD degree. In 1980 he became involved with Solidarity, the famous Polishanti-communisttrade unionandsocial movement.Within the movement he was active in theSilesiaregion.

In 1991, he replacedLech Wałęsa(thenpresident of Poland) as the chairman of Solidarity. In opposition both to the government of Wałęsa and later thecentre-leftSLD,he was one of the founders of the center andright-wingSolidarity Electoral Action, which eventually became victorious in the1997 Polish parliamentary election.Krzaklewski, who was elected as adeputyto the Polish parliament (Sejm), was considered for the post ofPrime Minister,however in the end the post went toJerzy Buzek.Amid the decreasing support for AWS, political infightingand corruption (TKM), he contested the2000 Polish presidential election.As the major right-wing candidate, he polled very poorly, achieving just 15.6% of the vote.(IncumbentKwasniewskiwon a majority in the first round). Subsequently, AWS suffered a crushing defeat in the2001 Polish parliamentary election.

Krzaklewski resigned as the leader of AWS in 2001 and was replaced as chairman of the Solidarity trade Union byJanusz Śniadekin 2002. He remained a member of the trade union's National Commission until his retirement in 2017. In 2004, Krzaklewski became Poland's representative of theEuropean Economic and Social Committee.

In the2009 European Parliament election,Krzaklewski unsuccessfully ran for a seat in theRzeszów constituencyunder theCivic Platformlist.