Wojciech Jaruzelski 15 May 2001 suggested that a majority of the Polish people were open to agreeing with his explanation that martial law was implemented to forestall a Soviet invasion. Available documents indicate that Jaruzelski actually lobbied for Soviet intervention. In interviews in Russian media ("Rossiyskaya Gazeta" for example) he has been presented as the harbinger of Poland's democracy. Croatian writer Slavenka Drakulić described Jaruzelski as a "tragic believer in Communism who made a pact with the devil in good faith". "Różnić się mądrze" (English translation: "To Differ Wisely") (1999). "Być może to ostatnie słowo (wyjaśnienia złożone przed Sądem)" (English translation:"It may
Wojciech Jaruzelski appearances. However, Wałęsa persuaded the Communists' two allied parties, the United People's Party (ZSL) and the Alliance of Democrats (SD), to break their alliance with the PZPR. Accepting that he would have to appoint a Solidarity member as prime minister, Jaruzelski then asked Wałęsa to select three candidates, one of whom he would ask to form a government. Ultimately, Tadeusz Mazowiecki, who had helped organize the roundtable talks, was selected as first non-Communist prime minister of an Eastern Bloc country in four decades. Jaruzelski resigned as president in 1990. He was succeeded by Wałęsa, who had won the presidential election