Polish Consulate...

Warsaw, Kuwait, March 29: Marek Belka confirmed that he was a candidate for a new Prime Minister. Professor Belka is holding the post of director for economic policy in the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Iraq by the end of March. He admitted he had accepted the proposal the offer to be a candidate for a new PM made a few days ago by President Aleksander Kwasniewski. Belka, on a visit to Kuwait, said that he had not conducted so far any talks on political support or candidates for ministerial posts.

Warsaw, March 29: Union of Labour (UP) leader Marek Pol has made his support for Marek Belka as a new Prime Minister dependant on a package of welfare laws to Hausner's economic austerity plan and a clear-cut time-table of Polish troops withdrawal from Iraq. President Kwasniewski met with leaders of the leading parliamentary caucuses in an attempt to gain the support for his candidate. Pol said that the president assured him that Belka was a candidate for an interim PM that would form a government of technocrats to rule Poland until new elections. Pol said Belka was a good candidate but the final decision on support has to be made by the party leadership. Like the president, Pol was also of the opinion that it was impossible to hold parliamentary elections together with elections to the European parliament. Meanwhile leader of the Polish Peasant Party (PSL) Janusz Wojciechowski said after consultations with the president that Belka candidacy was very hard to accept for the PSL. Final decision will be made by the PSL authorities. Later the President met with leader of the Citizens Platform (PO) Donald Tusk, who told Kwasniewski his party firmly speaks in favour of early elections. Tusk did not manage to convince the President to the idea of holding early elections together with elections to the European Parliament on June 13. The PO leader stressed that he and the President had the impression that gathering enough support for Marek Belka in the Sejm will not be an easy task. Kwasniewski will continue his consultations.

Warsaw, March 2-30: Sejm speaker Marek Borowski resigned his post pending the formation of his political party, the Social Democracy of Poland. As everyone knows I'm busy forming a party and this would certainly conflict with my speaker function, Borowski explained. President Kwasniewski said he accepted the decision which showed Borowski as a "man of honour". Parliamentary praxis lays it down clearly: the biggest group gets the speakership, the smaller ones occupy lesser posts, Kwasniewski said, adding that this should be "a rule in our parliamentary life". He also said he did not know which party would be most powerful in parliament in future. On Tuesday, the Sejm resolved not to vote on Borowski’s dismissal.

Warsaw, March 29: President Aleksander Kwasniewski said that government structures, local administration institutions and agencies as well as people were quite well prepared for Poland's integration with the EU. The statement was made at the cabinet council meeting in Warsaw. According to Kwasniewski, the Miller government still faces the most important task of wrapping up all issues related to Poland's integration with the EU. Kwasniewski stressed that the current government should wisely use the time it has so that Poland may enter the EU as well prepared, proud European state and not the proverbial poor relative. Leszek Miller assured there was no threat for Poland being unable to meet any commitment related to the integration before May 1. Poland will not surrender as regards the EU constitution but will seek a compromise for every country cherishing the hope that the EU Constitutional Treaty will be adopted still during the Irish presidency of the EU. Kwasniewski believes that a compromise that'll strengthen the country's position is possible. Miller added that such a compromise, to be accepted by Poland has to meet three criteria: it must provide a balance between small, medium-sized and large states, its entries must promote solutions adopted by agreements not votes and it has to be accepted by citizens. "They will decide whether or not we will have the European Constitution. A number of countries including, most likely, Poland is going to hold referenda on the constitution," Miller said.

Warsaw, March 29: President Aleksander Kwasniewski on Tuesday in Kiev inaugurates together with Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, the Polish Year in that country. The event has been organised by Warsaw-based Adam Mickiewicz Institute. Presidential aide Marek Siwiec said the timing is not coincidental: "In the year of Poland's accession to the EU we want to demonstrate how important Ukraine is for Poland, and that the EU accession does not mean that we are turning our back on Ukraine, but the opposite, it indicates our interest in developing contacts with Ukraine." Siwiec noted that a certain stage in Polish-Ukrainian relations is coming to an end as Kuchma's term in office expires this fall and Kwasniewski's next year. "Both presidents first met in Paris in January 1996. Many problems have yet not been solved, but I think the balance sheet is very positive," Siwiec said. In 1997 the two presidents signed in Kiev a Declaration on Forgiveness and Reconcilement which was to be a foundation for improvement of mutual relations. In Siwiec’s opinion tension and utter distrust have been removed from Polish-Ukrainian relations which marked contacts at the begining. The EU accession is the most important event for Poland, and presidential elections and constitutional reform are the major events in Ukraine, which are to be a test of maturity of democracy the Ukrainian state.

Warsaw, March 29: NATO will be necessary as long as dangers exist and the admission of new members to the Alliance will mean more safety, Polish defense minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski said commenting official NATO accession by Bulgaria, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Calling the new entry "a triumph for NATO's open-door policy", he stressed that a bigger NATO will be safer, more stable and foreseeable. He also reminded that Poland and the new NATO members were already linked by political and military cooperation, primarily in the Polish-commandeered international force in Iraq.

Warsaw, March 29: Polish civil servants will undergo training in Italy and their Italian colleagues will come to Poland under a memorandum signed between the Polish Interior Ministry and the Italian Administration Ministry. Poland accepted the invitation to a group of countries (Italy, France and Spain) which were planning to unify procedures and public proceeding laws without any pressure from Brussels. The planned training are to cover public administration, staff management in public sector, reform and modernisation of public administration and improvement of services for citizens and firms.

Warsaw, March 30: Marek Belka, the candidate for the post of PM, said the Hausner plan is right for keeping the economy growing. He added that Jerzy Hausner should remain in a cabinet. "Poland cannot afford abandoning economic growth. The economy is growing by at least 5 pct in the first quarter, and it is in danger if suddenly it turns out that we will have to tolerate a rise of interest rates when problems with financing our needs emerge. And the Hausner plans will be the best way to avert or solve the problems, Belka said.

Warsaw, March 29: A total of 1,736 state-owned enterprises were still up for privatisation last year, the treasury ministry informed. In all, 5,544 national companies were completely or partly privatised between the August 1990 startup of privatisation in Poland and February of 2004. Shares in 998 national enterprises were also sold to private investors.

posted by: Oborski at 16:39 | link | comments |

The months-long governmental crisis ended over the course of two days with decisions triggering a fundamental change in the political scene: the prime minister announced his resignation and the Sejm Speaker founded a new political party.

At a joint press conference held with President Aleksander Kwaœniewski March 26, Prime Minister Leszek Miller declared that May 2, a day after Poland's accession to the European Union, he would resign from his office. Justifying his decision, Miller said that after certain Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) Sejm and Senate deputies had left the party, no efficient policy could be implemented any longer.

The president intends to officially present the name of his candidate for prime minister after consulting the heads of the biggest caucuses, in order that the new head of government be appointed on the same day as Miller's resignation. According to Kwaœniewski, there is no time for a thorough reconstruction of the government and in some areas, such as foreign affairs and defense policy, it would be unjustified.

Two of the most commonly mentioned candidates for prime minister are members of the government-Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration Józef Oleksy and Minister of Foreign Affairs W³odzimierz Cimoszewicz. Possible candidates from outside the government include Sejm Speaker Marek Borowski, the founder of the new party, and Prof. Marek Belka, former minister of finance and now a member of the provisional authorities in Iraq. Belka said that the office of prime minister had already been discussed with him, but he did not reveal any details.

Kwaœniewski underlined that if the parliament did not approve the new government-according to the Constitution, it has two weeks to do so-early elections would have to be held.

Asked whether Deputy Prime Minister Jerzy Hausner should also be in the new government, Miller said it depended on the new prime minister, who should be free to choose his own partners. "It goes without saying that it would be best if the Hausner plan were executed by Jerzy Hausner," said the prime minister. He also emphasized that for the coming five weeks the government would focus upon the draft bills needed for effective implementation of Hausner's plan, as well as upon the draft bills adjusting Polish law to EU requirements, the creation of a new health insurance act and work on preparing Poland to make efficient use of EU funds.

According to a majority of commentators, the ultimate reason for Miller's resignation was the March 25 founding of a new party, Polish Social Democracy (SDPL), by ex-SLD members headed by Borowski. Beside the Sejm Speaker, the members of the new party include former Minister of Labor Jolanta Banach, who will head the SDPL caucus, former SLD Deputy Chair Andrzej Celiñski, Deputies Izabella Sierakowska, Bogdan Lewandowski and Marek Balicki, as well as W³odzimierz Nieporêt, the disciplinary commissioner of the SLD. A Plus/Minus 30 initiative associating young leftist politicians will function as part of the new party. The SDPL might also attract members of the coalition Labor Union (UP) to join. Deputy chair of the UP, Deputy Speaker of the Sejm Tomasz Na³êcz intends to stay with his old party for a week more to convince it to merge with the SDPL and "construct a new image of Polish social democracy together."

The first SDPL congress is to take place in the fall. The authorities of the new party will be elected then, following local party elections. Its slogan is "Poland needs the left," based on three pillars-a healthy state, social democracy and Europe. The SDPL will present its own list of candidates for the elections to the European Parliament.

Borowski justified his move by expressing disappointment with the SLD. "Over two and a half years, over four million voters have turned their backs on the SLD," said Borowski. "They indicated that they did not like the way the Alliance was being governed and functioning, that they were disappointed with it, that the party had let them down. It's not possible [for the left] to recover public trust in that party. We have been disillusioned. The Alliance is endangered by a further fall in support and even elimination from the political scene." Borowski emphasized that in making the decision to leave the SLD he was prepared for the possibility of resigning from the office of the Sejm Speaker. According to Borowski, if a motion for his dismissal emerges, the SDPL will not take part in the vote.

"We are critical towards the initiative of founding a new party," said SLD Chair Krzysztof Janik. "It's a bad decision, made at a bad moment. It will not favor political stability in Poland, so much needed by the people, the state and the economy. It will not facilitate EU integration, including the election of a good Polish representation for the European Parliament."

The emergence of the new left is criticized by most opposition members. "In the Sejm we have had many examples of politicians leaving their parties, both on the right and on the left," said Roman Giertych, leader of the League of Polish Families (LPR). "All those deputies have shared a common fate, finally finding themselves on the margins of Sejm life." Representatives of Law and Justice (PiS) are demanding that new parliamentary elections take place in June, together with elections to the European Parliament.

According to Donald Tusk, chair of Civic Platform (PO), the party excludes the possibility of participating in or supporting the new government headed by the SLD. "The Platform will not contribute to appointing such a government, one that by definition is weak and torn," said Tusk.

posted by: Oborski at 16:34 | link | comments |

From Warsaw Voice

Stagnation in talks over the future European constitution has finally ended. At the March 25-26 EU summit, Poland signaled a willingness to compromise on the principles of the Nice Treaty.

According to leaders of the 25 states which from May 1 will constitute the enlarged European Union, the actual shape of the EU constitution will be agreed upon no later than the June 17-18 summit. The emergence of such a possibility was to a large extent influenced by the new, more flexible stand of Warsaw and earlier of Madrid.

"The atmosphere in Brussels was much better than in December 2003 [during the previous summit at which constitution talks were blocked by the Polish delegation, among others]," said Prime Minister Leszek Miller back in Poland after the summit. The optimism concerning the most controversial article of the Constitutional Treaty draft prepared by the European Convention, specifying the future method of voting in the Council of the European Union, followed the conciliatory statements of the Polish delegation concerning the double majority system of EU states and citizens, previously contested by Poland and Spain.

According to Miller, "compromise is an antonym of surrender." Miller said the terrorist attacks in Madrid necessitated a constitution that acted as a "mechanism making Europe more resistant to various threats." He added that "Spain's evolution in this domain is not insignificant." In his speech directly following the announcement of the official Spanish election results, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, the Spanish prime minister elect, declared a readiness to compromise. His statement led Polish commentators to suggest that Warsaw was left alone in the battle to maintain the Nice principles. It was at this moment that the first clear appeals for Poland to become more flexible were voiced.

"We are not excluding the possibility of reaching a compromise based on the double majority," said Foreign Affairs Minister W³odzimierz Cimoszewicz. "Much will depend on the detailed terms of such a compromise." According to the constitution draft put forward by the European Convention, for a decision to be adopted by the Council of the European Union it would have to gain support from 50 percent of states inhabited by 60 percent of EU citizens. Poland and Spain are unofficially said to be ready to agree to that system if the population threshold is raised from 60 to 64-65 percent. Both countries would than retain the veto option ensured by the Nice voting system.

"The whole political culture of the EU is based on compromise and it's better to compromise than to cause defeat," said Miller. At the same time, he declared that Poland's ultimate approval of the EU constitution should be expressed in a national referendum. The same opinion had previously been uttered by President Aleksander Kwaœniewski.

The stance of the Polish delegation in Brussels was positively evaluated by the National Council of the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) meeting held the following day. According to Council members, "the worst scenario would be for Poland to be doomed to a loss of credibility." The Council's resolution expresses belief in the possibility of reaching a compromise which should "represent and guarantee the proper position of Poland."

Poland's departure form the "Nice or death" motto coined by Civic Platform (PO) leader Jan Rokita in the Sejm has been criticized by the opposition, particularly radical parties such as the League of Polish Families (LPR), the Catholic National Movement (RKN) and the Movement for the Reconstruction of Poland (ROP). Representatives of these parties demand that the government immediately explain its change of mind, which they consider tantamount to a betrayal of the national interest. Much seems to indicate that many parties will encourage their members to vote against the EU Constitutional Treaty in the possible referendum.

The issue of the Constitutional Treaty was by no means the only subject of the Brussels summit. The EU states' leaders also undertook to pursue closer cooperation in fighting terrorism and to increase the pace of Europe's economic position in relation to the U.S. They agreed that the EU should increase the pace of reforms and economic modernization if it wants to achieve the Lisbon strategy aim of catching up with the United States by 2010. The summit participants appointed Gijs de Vries, former Dutch minister of internal affairs, as coordinator of the fight against terrorism. The EU states will increase the pace of decisions on introducing passports and visas with computer-encoded fingerprints. They will also introduce an obligation for EU telecommunications operators to keep records of their clients' telephone and Internet connections.

The Polish delegation declared its full support for all summit decisions favoring economic growth and improving EU competitiveness. "We are stressing the problem of various barriers to the free movement of labor," said Miller. However, according to observers, the motion did not obtain the expected support of new EU member states. Although the need to "consolidate a free movement of labor" has been included in the summit's final document, it lacks a clear appeal to open labor markets to citizens of new EU states.

posted by: Oborski at 16:31 | link | comments |

By Slawomir Majman
From Warsaw Voice

Things are going well.
The Polish economy has shot forward. Industrial production growth is breaking records. Exports are growing even faster. Shipyards, car manufacturers, machinery and electrical equipment factories are experiencing a boom. Corporations are doubling their profits, and domestic demand is growing because employees are receiving higher wages.

The predictions spoke of a good 12-percent growth, but in fact industrial production grew by over 18 percent—a result worthy of the world’s most vigorous economies.

Things are going well in Poland.
Meanwhile, climbing to the top of popularity ranking lists is Andrzej Lepper’s Samoobrona—a party of frustration and populist negation. The creators of economic success—Leszek Miller’s ministers, on the other hand, are reaching rock bottom in voter opinion polls. The disintegrating camp of the ruling left is quite rightly concerned whether the socialists will make it into the new parliament at all, and Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) leaders have flushed Prime Minister Miller—the least liked head of government in the history of Polish democracy—down the toilet.

There’s an absolutely shocking discrepancy between the joyous objective economic data and the mood of millions of Poles who are sure their country is sinking into crisis, and who are prepared to follow the demagogues offering primitive populism and radically leftist, simple recipes.

What’s happened? Have the Poles gone blind? Have the Poles completely lost their minds?
■ Things are going well in Poland. Only, the Poles just don’t see it.
What most Poles see every day is unemployment, backwardness in rural areas, no place in society for every fourth citizen including young people, more modest household income than a few years ago.

Economic revival of itself does not create new jobs. On the contrary—it is often achieved by way of cost rationalization. After the bitter lesson of a long recession, companies are holding back investments. Revival does not yet mean growing affluence. The average Pole learns that things are going better only from his morning paper.

Moreover, the corruption scandals large and small that erupted during Miller’s term, usually blown out of all proportion by media hostile to the left, have convinced most Poles that they live in a country rotten to the core and on the brink of political catastrophe.

It is the stinking fumes of corruption scandals that have completely overshadowed the unquestioned economic success, Poland’s strengthened position in the international arena, and the decent terms of European Union accession obtained in the negotiations. It is the fog of corruption and disastrous personnel decisions that wrecked the Miller government’s reputation, destroying what for years was Poland’s most cohesive party—the SLD, and causing its electorate to drift away to the populists.

■ Have the Poles completely lost their minds? Have their politicians lost their minds?
At the very moment the sword of Damocles was hanging over the left and its government, when it was clear that the 18 months till the end of the term should be spent on undoing the damage, and rational political forces should be mobilizing to defend the bold government program for public finance rescue, the leftist leaders have been overcome by a frenzy of self-destruction.

This was the moment they chose to do a spectacular hara-kiri, ripping their bellies according to the samurai code: first from left to right, then deeper from right to left.

A group of SLD leaders pushed relentlessly for a breakup and created a new leftist party. Yes, the ranking lists give the SLD 8 percent, but 8 percent divided by two doesn’t yield 16, but at best 4 per head. Clearly this calculation doesn’t convince Sejm Speaker Marek Borowski, whose madness can’t even be stopped by appeals from President Aleksander Kwaśniewski. The dissenters’ leaders—Borowski, ex-SLD deputy chief Andrzej Celiński and their friend from coalition partner Labor Union (UP), Deputy Sejm Speaker Tomasz Nałęcz—are typical old-school Eastern European intellectuals who it’s nice to talk to over coffee but who certainly aren’t new left-wing leader material.

There are a few other factions jiggling around within the SLD. Some want a united party, others want to abandon it altogether. All are united by the will to get rid of the recent leader and strong man of Polish politics, Miller. They all have about as much charisma between them as a smoked mackerel.

Unexpectedly the SLD is in the situation of a man sinking in a swamp. The more they struggle, the deeper they are pulled down. Hysteria prevents them from being able to stop struggling.

Overcome by hysterical madness, the left’s leaders are going straight in one direction: towards the political margin.

■ In Poland, people win the elections first, and only then look around for something they should do.
For the SLD, this Polish rule meant a wasted first half of their term. When, belatedly, the government started doing a decent job, it had lost its electorate.
Some drifted towards the conservative Civic Platform (PO), having failed to find the efficient governing they’d expected from the left.

But most of the left’s supporters went over to Lepper’s populists, because when electing the SLD, these voters had been seeking the traditional leftist values, such as protection of the poor and those unable to cope in a free-market economy. They had been seeking a leftist alternative—and haven’t found it. The SLD became a machine for appointing people to civil-service posts, ignoring the aspirations of the poorer part of society. Visitors to party headquarters were seldom indigent young people, but rather businessmen searching for support in tenders.

So, have the Poles lost their minds because close to one-third of them support Lepper’s Samoobrona?

Despite his caricature-like image, Lepper is an unquestioned ambassador of social needs and anger. He expresses the views of the lower middle class whose flirt with capitalism has been a failure. The Poles have been let down by socialism and capitalism? “We choose the third way,” cries Lepper. Not enough money for the jobless and the sick? Lepper finds it in the parasitic banking system. The country rocks from corruption? Eradicate all politicians, from left and right, and give power to those who haven’t governed yet—Samoobrona.

In their chase after power and technocratic fixing of the economy, the socialists lost a large chunk of Poland. This chunk has been taken under the wings of Andrzej Lepper—a liberty-cap-wearing sans-culotte.

So, have the Poles lost their minds?
■ The Poles have lost their minds. Their politicians have been overcome by a suicidal mania.
The split in the SLD, the fight over European policy between PO leaders: Jan Rokita, who wants to die for Nice and wade in a sweet nationalist sauce, and Andrzej Olechowski, who speaks of compromise; the constant personnel pushing and shoving among the rightist leaders—this is a picture of the madness that affects the political elite this spring.

To make matters worse, there is the belief of over three-quarters of the Poles that the economy is collapsing, when in fact it’s the opposite.

Decent people have a problem this spring: who is it worth voting for in Poland?
In the face of this whole mess, Lepper—the refuge of the disaffected—stands like the Rock of Gibraltar.

The trouble is, Poland isn’t in danger of one government or another falling, or one prime minister or another.

Poland is in danger of eradicating the leftist-liberal political option for many years to come.

posted by: Oborski at 14:26 | link | comments |

posted by: Oborski at 20:41 | link | comments |

posted by: Oborski at 20:40 | link | comments |

Polish customers started their private preparations for Polish EU accession from buying large amounts of sugar which virtually disappeared from many supermarkets. Sugar is the only product in the EU the price of which is regulated, consequently, its price is expected to rise to 80 eurocents per kilogram after the accession. At the moment its price in Poland does not exceed 55 eurocents. Other products which will be more expensive are rice, flour, meat and dairy products. National Bank of Poland forecasts that although the price of rice may even double, the accession will increase inflation in Poland by 0,9%. Professor Jerzy Wilkin from the Warsaw University remarked, however, that many Poles spend as much as 50% of their income on food the average being 26.9%.

posted by: Oborski at 20:38 | link | comments |

posted by: Oborski at 20:33 | link | comments |

New Prime Minister Wanted

On Monday president Aleksander Kwasniewski will launch talks with major parties aimed at encouraging them to smoothly agree on a new prime minister and cabinet composition. Last Friday premier Leszek Miller announced to step down on May 2nd. One day after Poland’s accession into the EU, the outgoing prime minister will give his office to the new cabinet head. Should the latter fail to win a confidence vote in the lower house within the following two weeks or a candidate be selected, early elections would have to be held. The goal of the president’s consultations with representatives of major parties is to guarantee the selection of an appropriate candidate to take the post of prime minister and to hand the nomination on the day of Leszek Miller’s departure

posted by: Oborski at 01:07 | link | comments |

March 27 (Bloomberg) -- Poland's Ruling Democratic Left Alliance meets today to reorganize the party leadership after Prime Minister Leszek Miller said he will step down and the head of parliament left the party to form his own.

The national council of the ruling party, better known as SLD, starts today at 10:30 a.m. in Warsaw to discuss steps to take after yesterday's decision by Miller to quit the government on May 2 and the departure of Parliamentary Speaker Marek Borowski and 22 lawmakers. The SLD has seen its popularity slump to below 10 percent from 50 percent when it won 2001 elections.

``In half a year, SLD will be a completely new party amid changes we already have undertaken and we will pursue,'' said SLD Chairman Krzysztof Janik at a press conference yesterday, before Miller's announcement. ``We will have a discussion directly with Prime Minister Leszek Miller, looking straight into his eyes and not into camera lenses.''

Miller has struggled for more than a year to hold power after his coalition partner quit, his own lawmakers challenged him on a 54 billion-zloty ($13.8 billion) spending-cut plan and opposition parties such has Citizens' Platform pressed for early elections.

At a press conference with President Aleksander Kwasniewski following his return from Warsaw last night, Miller denied he was responsible for the party's split.

``There is no problem with Leszek Miller,'' he said. ``If it's going to help Poland and Polish social democracy, then my choice is to resign from leading the cabinet.''

Kwasniewski said he will begin talks on forming a new cabinet with other parties on Monday, so it will be ready to take power on May 2.

He said he expects some current cabinet members, such as the foreign minister and the defense minister, to remain in government and he expects a continuity in the government's effort to cut budget spending so the country can adopt the euro this decade.

If the new cabinet fails to win parliamentary approval by May 16, the president will be forced to call early elections, he said.

Miller has led a minority cabinet since the Polish Peasants' Party left the government. Before the split up led by Borowski, the SLD held 200 seats in the 450-seat parliament, and needed the support of opposition parties to pass bills.

The president said he will say who his candidate for becoming the Eastern European nation's next prime minister will be on Monday.

Borowski, who said he preferred former Economy Minister Marek Belka to be next premier, took 22 lawmakers from Miller's SLD with him to his new Social Democratic Party.

posted by: Oborski at 19:58 | link | comments |

WARSAW, Poland -- Prime Minister Leszek Miller said Friday that he will resign on May 2, the day after Poland joins the European Union, citing his government's dismal approval ratings.

Miller made the announcement after talks with Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski.

Earlier Friday, nearly 30 lawmakers defected from Miller's Democratic Left Alliance party and called for him to resign.

The defections reflected deep dissatisfaction in the party with Miller just before Poland - a key U.S. ally in Iraq - joins the European Union on May 1.

Miller's popularity slumped in the face of high unemployment and his drive for unpopular spending cuts before Poland joins the EU. Miller said Friday that his government will see Poland through entry into the EU and he would stay on until a successor is found and voted in by parliament.

Kwasniewski said he accepted Miller's resignation and would propose a successor by Monday.

posted by: Oborski at 21:18 | link | comments |

Ruling left Splits Up

A group of 27 members of the ruling Social Democratic Left Alliance SLD has announced the creation of a new party Social Democracy of Poland. The group led by parliamentary speaker Marek Borowski said they could continue supporting the SLD in parliament if prime minister Leszek Miller steps down , otherwise , the new party said it would support opposition calls for early elections .Under Leszek Miller’s rule the SLD saw its support melt to less than 10% this month from the 42% it gained in the 2001 general elections. The rapid decision of the rebel group to separate itself from the SLD prompted calls for Miller’s resignation even from within his own cabinet.

Marek Borowski has officially introduced the Social Democracy of Poland. At a press conference in Warsaw Borowski underlined that the party aims at serving the state and not its members, he underlined that the movement rose up due to situation within the SLD which lost over four million of its electorate as a result of scandals, internal rows and incompetence. Marek Borowski said that such a situation called for the formation of a new leftist party, since as he said Poland needs the leftist movement.

posted by: Oborski at 21:10 | link | comments |

A Polish government delegation with Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz arrived in Brussels on Thursday to attend a two-day EU summit starting later in the day.

Poland and Spain want their alliance on the EU Constitution to remain in force. If they change their position on the vote counting system in the EU Council they will do it together, Prime Minister Leszek Miller said Wednesday after a meeting with Spanish PM elect Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero. So far Poland and Spain have been against plans to depart in 2009 from the voting system adopted in Nice. Germany and France want this system to be replaced with the so-called double majority method. Asked whether Spain was planning to give up its efforts to keep the Nice system, Miller said: "Spain is at the moment analysing the situation but a modification of its position is rather certain. It is still unknown how this modification can look like but it should be expected." But we want to continue to speak with one voice or a very similar one, Miller said. The Polish PM also met with his outgoing counterpart and fervent supporter of the Nice vote system Jose Maria Aznar. Miller admitted that he was becoming a supporter of an idea to hold a referendum on the EU Constitution in Poland. This is a very significant legal and political act and the Polish people should have the right to voice their opinion, he stressed.

The timing of this visit was perfect as it took place just before our integration with the European Union; it convinced our partners that entering the EU we are not becoming Eurocentrist as they may have suspected, said President Aleksander Kwasniewski while summing up his six-day visit to Persian Gulf states. "On the other hand the membership of the EU strengthens Poland as the country becomes a member of a very important world's club and has the same legal, economic and political standards," he stressed. Kwasniewski said that political contacts with Persian Gulf states require trust in joint undertakings that should be developed between those states that are friendly towards each other. The president underlined the difficult situation in the region. He said that he had tough talks on Poland's presence in Iraq because of lack of optimism as to further developments there. "We will develop bilateral cooperation, we will cooperate with the entire region also on the international arena. Poland is highly valued here and this quality is being underlined by our integration with the EU. Poland's active policy in the region will be beneficial to both sides," the president summed up.

President Aleksander Kwasniewski arrived in Qatar on Wednesday morning for a one-day visit to that country. This is the last leg of Kwasniewski's tour of the Persian Gulf states. On Wednesday evening the president is coming back to Poland. During his visit to Doha the Polish president will meet Qatar's Amir Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani and attend a Polish-Qatari economic forum.

PM Leszek Miller told journalists in Madrid on Wednesday that he would meet President Aleksander Kwasniewski Wednesday night or Thursday morning to discuss the outcome of his talks in Spain and an EU summit, that starts in Brussels on Thursday. "The president comes back from Qatar late Wednesday night so I will meet him either tonight or tomorrow. It will be a routine meeting. The president will also share his experience from the visit to Persian Gulf states, that concluded today," Miller added. Leszek Miller heads a Polish delegation that is leaving for a two- day EU summit on Thursday afternoon. The summit was to be devoted to the so called Lisbon strategy but after March 11 terrorist attacks in Madrid it is likely to focus on terrorism-fighting. Miller will be accompanied by Foreign Minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz. "Even though the agenda of the summit does not envisage a discussion on the EU Constitutional Treaty Ireland, that holds EU rotating presidency may come up with something it would like to present as a result of consultations on the treaty," he explained. The PM did not exclude the possibility of holding a referendum on the EU Constitutional Treaty in Poland. "I think this idea should be considered. The referendum could be held together with presidential elections to give it a chance for a higher turnout," he told journalists.

EU Commissioner for Enlargement Guenter Verheugen suggested Wednesday that Poland should make efforts to reach a compromise on the European constitution before its accession to the Union in May. According to AFP, Verheugen told Deutschlandradio that the European parliamentary elections in June would also be a good time. The matter is to find a formula which will help Poland demonstrate its ability to compromise with upheld brow, Verheugen said. In his opinion the Tuesday meeting of Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder with Prime Minister Leszek Miller was "an important signal" of the will to offer Poland a helping hand to overcome the impasse.

Culture ministers of Poland, Germany and other Central European countries will meet in Warsaw in April to discuss the problems of expulsions, flights and migration in Europe and the proposal to create a coordinating centre for exhibitions, discussions and other related events, German minister of state for culture and media Christina Weiss said in Berlin Wednesday. Weiss said she hopes that this will make it possible to discuss difficult problems at a higher, spiritual level. The German minister is against the proposal launched by the German union of expellees BdV to build a Centre Against Expulsions in Berlin. In her opinion the problem of expulsions should be dealt with by a decentralised network of European centres and institutions operating in the countries concerned.

Sejm deputy-Speaker Donald Tusk announced in Wroclaw Wednesday that the Citizens' Platform (PO) will table a motion on self-dissolution of the Sejm and will call for new elections to be held together with elections to the European Parliament. Tusk said the PO wants the motion on self-dissolution to be examined some time between the end of March and early in April so that parliamentary and European elections could be held simultaneously in June. An appeal for the self-dissolution of parliament was issued by the Law and Justice (PiS) party last January, and the League of Polish Families called for early parliamentary elections last Tuesday.

Only 5 percent of Poles in an Ipsos survey backed the Leszek Miller government, 8 percent voiced support for the PM himself (4 points down from February). 89 percent criticized the government (5 points up from February). 84 percent criticized Miller (77 pct in February). Also down 3 points is support for president Aleksander Kwasniewski, 47 percent praising his work in March. 41 percent criticised the president (up 4 points from February). Ipsos ran the poll from March 5 to 9 on a random group of 1,005 Poles 15 and over.

posted by: Oborski at 21:03 | link | comments |

posted by: Oborski at 22:41 | link | comments |

"I'm not a crook because that's against my morals."
-Zbigniew B. aka Orzech in a statement in court; he was sentenced to a term of 12 years for heading an armed criminal group and ordering a murder

"Ordinary people are not interested in Leszek Miller's real function; for them, he might as well be archbishop."
-Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) deputy Jerzy Dziewulski when asked whether the SLD's results in public opinion polls would improve after the prime minister's resignation as head of the party

"I think it was out of pure love. He simply wants me to be close to him, not somewhere in Brussels."
-Nelli Rokita, wife of the leader of the Civic Platform (PO) Jan Rokita, on the fact that he firmly denied rumors about his wife's intention to run in the European Parliament elections even though she had not made a decision yet

"I put the letter on a nail hung in the toilet."
-Jerzy Jêdykiewicz, SLD party leader in Pomerania province accused of multi-million-zloty financial scandals, on the opposition's letter with a proposal to dissolve the SLD structure in the region

"He acted with dignity-atypical for a politician. He apologized to the wronged party, didn't obstruct the proceedings and didn't try to blame others."
-Miko³aj Borku³ak, judge from the district court in Zambrów, on Sergiusz Plewa, SLD senator from Podlasie province, who was fined and lost his driver's license for a year for causing a minor road accident while intoxicated

"The office staff were not interested. Only five people applied, so we canceled the session."
-Justyna Rytel-Kuc, from the Warsaw county office, on the planned six-hour work ethics training session for employees

posted by: Oborski at 15:05 | link | comments |

Leader of the ruling SLD Democratic Left Alliance Krzysztof Janik has said that the alliance’s National Council, which meets on Saturady, will take a decision on the future of the government. “We should not fear talks about the government nor should we fear taking decisions”- Janik said at a meeting with local party leaders.
Pressure has been growing in the alliance on making PM Leszek Miller resign and forming a new cabinet. Two splinter groups emerged, one formed around parliamentary speaker Marek Borowski, another made up of deputies sitting in Parliament for the first time.

The European Union summit which begins in Brussels later today is almost certain to see talks on the European constitution get off the ground again. The negotiations were suspended last December, largely due to an uncompromising stand of Poland and Spain. Now Spain is ready to modify its stand and Polish Prime minister Leszek Miller said that Poland and Spain will work together on a compromise. And foreign minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz said that Poland does not rule out a compromise on the voting arrangement. Speaking after a meeting with Benelux and Visehrad Group leaders, Cimoszewicz said everything depends on details and on what kind of a compromise is possible.

Polish railwaymen have threatened to go on strike, if the government does not start a dialogue with their Protest Committee on plans to slash 251 regional train services. The PKP state railways says that the services are making losses. Stanis³aw Kogut, who heads the Protest Committee, argues that the PKP management violates last year’s agreement under which all cuts would be closely analyzed with the unionists.

We would very much welcome peace and development in the Mideast region, Persian-Gulf-visiting President Kwasniewski said in Dubai. He assured Poland would not be pulling out from Iraq before its mission was over and would not enlarge its Iraq force. Explaining why Poland involved itself in the Iraq operation, Kwasniewski said that "we believed and still believe that the Saddam Hussein regime was a crucial threat to global safety and the safety of this region". Hussein used mass destruction weaponry also against his own people, he waged war against his neighbours and committed genocide. I am sure the world without Hussein is better than it had been when he was in power. This is why we took part in this mission in the belief that this would be part of a very important struggle against terrorism.

Trade between Poland and the United Arab Emirates could grow provided Poland is better promoted in the region, Emirates-visiting Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski said in Dubai. Earlier, Kwasniewski attended an economic forum, met members of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and visited a free trade zone. The President said afterwards that his visit in Dubai opened up a new cooperation phase between Poland and the Emirates. He als

"Cześć!"

Links

Archives

Counter

posted by: Oborski at 20:52 | link | comments |

posted by: Oborski at 20:51 | link | comments |

posted by: Oborski at 20:50 | link | comments |

posted by: Oborski at 20:49 | link | comments |

posted by: Oborski at 19:34 | link | comments |

posted by: Oborski at 16:42 | link | comments |