On 11 February 1981, Jaruzelski was elected Prime Minister of Poland and became the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers Party on 18 October the same year.
On 11 February 1981, Jaruzelski was elected Prime Minister of Poland. After Stanisław Kania was ousted as First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers Party for critical remarks about his Soviet masters, Jaruzelski was elected his successor on 18 October the same year.