Economy Minister resigns from the SLD but remains in gov't

The leaders of the party are shocked and resentful, but as for now they do not plan to demand that he resigns from the government. "My road and the road of the SLD have been moving apart and they have gone in different directions," explained Hausner who added that he is becoming more open to new political initiatives. It seems like it will not be a problem for the man to join another party. "I would like to create something more than the Freedom Union (UW) with him," said UW leader Władysław Frasyniuk who revealed that he was trying to convince Hausner to leave the SLD. "This is one of the elements of cleaning up of the political stage. People should group around their views and not historical divisions," added Frasyniuk. Another of his choices could be the creation of new left-wing party around SDPL or a new center-left around President Aleksander Kwaśniewski. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A1; Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 1) A.K.