Your editorial rightly celebrates the good news for Poland and Europe (The Guardian view on Poland’s election: a record turnout delivers a landmark result, 16 October). This was, however, not just the highest turnout “since the fall of communism”. It was higher than in the historic 1989 elections – partly rigged by the government to prevent upsets – that ended one-party rule.
Reporting on those elections was one of the privileges of my life. Of the 100 freely elected seats, 99 went to the previously banned Solidarity opposition. The Berlin Wall fell five months later.
