Outrage in Poland over right wing power move

[Moses]

(From Bush playbook)

Coalition talks fall apart; PO angry and says it may not return to negotiations

The Law & Justice (PiS) party, which came in first in September 25th parliamentary elections voted in its own member as speaker of the lower house of Parliament, the Sejm.

PiS brought radical parties Samoobrona, the League of Polish Families (LPR) and the agrarian PSL on board for the vote, in effect voting down the candidate from the potential junior coalition partner Civic Platform (PO), Bronislaw Komorowski.

PiS elected its own candidate Marek Jurek, whose selection the PO opposed.

PO leaders said after the vote that coalition talks would be suspended for a cooling-off period.

Most observers believe the PO and PiS will return to the negotiating table, but have not ruled out a minority government led by PiS. A PiS/LPR/Samoobrona/PSL government could be one of the most radical and unstable governments Poland has had since the fall of communism.

The parties have until next Wednesday to meet a constitutional deadline for a vote of confidence in PM-designate Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz and his selected cabinet.

Poland's constitution allows for three attempts at government forming after elections. Each of three candidates - the first and last named by the current president - has two weeks to secure a vote of confidence for a full cabinet.

The leader of the PO, Donald Tusk, ruled out a return to coalition talks with PiS. "Today I do not see a chance to get back to coalition talks," Tusk said.

In the vote Jurek secured 265 votes while Bronislaw Komorowski received only 133 votes.

My comment:
sources say this political maneuver has caused a lot of outrage.

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This article from The Warsaw Voice Online (no link)

For radio news in English: www.radio.com.pl/polonia/gb/

[Moses]

Coalition crisis


Chances to form a coalition by Poland’s two biggest parties – the conservative Law and Justice and pro-market Civic Platform – have diminished still further.

Report by Krysia Kolosowska

The Law and Justice won a stand-off with its would-be coalition partner over the important post of parliamentary speaker.

Law and Justice, which consistently refused to back a candidate of the Civic Platform, put forward its politician Marek Jurek, who was eventually elected speaker. That and the Law and Justice support for populist leader of the militant farmers’ Self-Defense Andrzej Lepper, who became one of the five deputy speakers, prompted many bitter comments from its would-be partner. Civic Platform leader Donald Tusk said he did not see any longer a possibility of forming a coalition with the Law and Justice.

Markets reacted nervously as did many foreign observers. Cornelius Ochmann from the German Bertelsmann Foundation is one of the many foreign observers concerned about the course that Poland might take.

Cornelius Ochmann fears that the winner Law and Justice will seek the support of populist, nationalistic and even chauvinistic forces.

Adam Szostkiewicz is worried about the bickering between the two winner parties, but he believes it is a normal element of tough negotiations.

Adam Szostkiewicz sees a danger looming over Poland – namely that it may not be ready for crucial negotiations in the European Union on the constitution and especially the budget.

Poland hopes to get some 60 billion euros from EU structural funds over the coming years. It also aspires to play a leading role in the bloc. But if the Law and Justice decides to role together with parties at which the EU partners look with contempt and disrespect, this goal will be hard to achieve.