AWS deputies won't have Treasury Minister Wasacz to kick around anymore

On Monday, the Treasury Minister Emil Wasacz resigned. Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek accepted his resignation and has already appointed deputy Senate speaker Andrzej Chornowski as the new Treasury Minister. Buzek says Wasacz decided to leave so as not to be the source of crisis within Solidarity Election Action (AWS) before the coming elections. Some AWS deputies blame him for selling too many state-owned companies to foreign investors or for opposing the idea of creating a sugar holding Polski Cukier. A vote of non-confidence was filed three times against Wasacz during his term. "I do not know if the newly appointed Treasury Minister has ever dealt with privatization in practice," said former Finance Minister Leszek Balcerowicz. (Gazeta Wyborcza, page 1, 2, 20)