Belka secures Sejm's backing

Prime Minister Marek Belka finally won last week's vote of confidence in the Sejm. The outcome of the vote was 236 votes for and 215 against, with one abstention. Just like in the previous Belka ballot, the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), the Labor Union (UP) and the majority of independent deputies cast their votes Belka's way. As expected, right-wing and populist parties, such as the Civic Platform (PO), Law and Justice (PiS), the Polish Family League (LPR), the Polish Peasants Party (PSL) and Samoobrona (Self-Defense) voted against the government. In the debate prior to the vote, Jarosław Kaczyński of the PiS denounced Belka's government as a continuation of post-communism, while the PO's Zyta Gilowska criticised Belka for being a new Leszek Miller. The government only won thanks to the votes of the Federated Parliamentary Club (FKP) and Polish Social Democracy (SdPl), whose deputies agreed to back Belka after last minute negotiations. Before the ballot took place, Belka presented his new plan, which in reality differed from the previous one only in terms of the concessions he made in order to win favor with the SdPl, promising to build a fair state and ensure a citizen-friendly foreign policy. After the vote, Belka said he was committed to doing anything to ensure that his government operates until spring next year.