Jaroslaw Walesa,
the 29-year-old son of Solidarity founder Lech Walesa,
pledged Tuesday to uphold Roman Catholic and family values
as he begins his career in parliament but said he
considers some of his father's more traditional ideas outdated.
In last month's election, Jaroslaw Walesa won a
parliamentary seat in his home city of Gdansk for the
pro-business Civic Platform Party. He is one of the
youngest members of the lower house, or Sejm, which convenes Wednesday.
In an interview with the Associated Press, he
said he hopes to help bring Poland, which joined the
European Union last year, closer to the West. But he
said he also wants to preserve the Roman Catholic values
that inspired his father's anticommunist convictions.
He cited euthanasia, abortion, same-sex
marriage, and adoptions by gays as issues that his
father takes a "clear" line in opposing but on which
he takes a more open approach. "I believe such a sure and
hardheaded stance is no longer practical or beneficial to
anyone," he said in fluent English, perfected during
eight years studying and working in the United States.
Civic Platform is currently in negotiations to
form a center-right coalition government with a more
traditionally minded conservative party, Law and Justice.
Sporting a goatee, sports shoes, and jeans, the
younger Walesa is more reminiscent of a student
starting college than a politician about to enter
parliament. Still, he is clearly aware of the responsibility
that comes with his famous name. The elder Walesa was
Poland's president from 1990 to 1995. "I didn't have
to invest a lot of energy into making my name known
because it's already a brand name," he said. "But some
people who want to say something to my father say it to me
instead, and they expect me to carry that burden."
(AP)