That same year, Solidarity’s political wing swept into government, and Wałęsa won the presidency by the year’s end. Yet Walentynowicz’s phone did not ring; no one sought out the opinion of the feisty crane operator who had helped start it all. Feeling marginalized in the new Poland, Walentynowicz took to the role of a dissident gadfly once more – this time critiquing the emergent capitalist democracy for not delivering true justice to the people. In 1995, as Wałęsa stood for re-election (a race he would ultimately lose), the 66-year-old Walentynowicz herself ran for a parliamentary seat, hoping to give voice to the forgotten workers. The result was humbling: she garnered only about 1,300 votes encyclopedia.com . It was a stark contrast to the adulation she had known in 1980. The Polish public, enamored with change and stability, seemed to have little appetite for Walentynowicz’s uncompromising moral crusade in the 1990s. Many of her former comrades regarded her as a relic, or even an annoyance – a persistent reminder of promises unkept.
Undeterred, Walentynowicz wielded her pen and her voice. She wrote open letters condemning what she saw as corruption and decay among Poland’s new rulers. In a scathing 1995 article, she went so far as to accuse Wałęsa – her fellow shipyard veteran – of a litany of misdeeds, from financial impropriety to collusion with the communist secret police encyclopedia.com . These allegations echoed claims circulating in the Polish press that Wałęsa might have acted as a secret informer (under the codename “Bolek”) in the 1970s – a hugely controversial topic in post-Communist Poland. Walentynowicz firmly believed that full lustration (exposure of communist-era informants) was necessary for Poland’s moral cleansing, and she suspected Wałęsa and others were blocking those efforts to protect themselves en.wikipedia.org . Such positions earned her sharp criticism from Wałęsa loyalists, who felt she was unfairly tarnishing a national icon. But Walentynowicz was unwavering; she felt no one, no matter how revered, should be above accountability. Her blunt, take-no-prisoners style once again left her isolated. By the late 1990s, even some admirers admitted that Anna’s rigid integrity and lack of political tact made her a poor fit in the era of polished politicians. As one observer noted, she refused to “kowtow” to power – even the power that she herself had helped create – and thus forfeited any real influence in the halls of government encyclopedia.com encyclopedia.com .
Still, recognition for Walentynowicz’s legacy slowly began to trickle in. In 2005, on the 25th anniversary of Solidarity, she was invited to the United States to receive the Truman-Reagan Medal of Freedom on behalf of the Polish people who fought for liberty en.wikipedia.org . During that visit, veteran American columnist Georgie Anne Geyer hailed her as the “Rosa Parks of Solidarity,” likening Walentynowicz’s single act of defiance (refusing to accept injustice, as Parks had on a bus in Alabama) to a spark that helped ignite a broader struggle en.wikipedia.org . Indeed, like Rosa Parks, Walentynowicz had not planned to start a movement – but her personal courage in a pivotal moment inspired others to action. Such international accolades gave Walentynowicz some satisfaction that her story was not forgotten, even if she remained a contentious figure at home. In Poland, she continued to take part in public life on her own terms. She accepted Poland’s highest honor, the Order of the White Eagle, in 2006 from President Lech Kaczyński, who, unlike some earlier leaders, openly revered the role she had played in winning Poland’s freedom instytutpolski.pl instytutpolski.pl . (Kaczyński represented a newer generation of conservative Polish politicians who emphasized anti-communist credentials and historical memory; Walentynowicz found more affinity with them than with Wałęsa’s liberal camp.) She also did not shy from criticizing the government of the day, whichever it was. In the 2000s she spoke out against the ruling party (at one point lambasting the centrist Civic Platform party for neglecting social justice) en.wikipedia.org .