Flakey government
Prime Minster Leszek Miller's resignation this week certainly caught the attention of the world's press, and most stories contained the sort of comments to make those of us who are familiar with Polish politics not just heave a heavy sigh, but more probably make for the nearest wall to exorcise our frustrations with some thought-cleansing head-banging.
An article in EU Business was typical of the contradictions reporters found themselves having to write about. The first sentence contained the words "...Poland has been plunged into political crisis," while by the third paragraph we are told that "Poland's political leaders are pulling out all the stops to ensure a smooth changeover to a new government." Further on, the article explains what it means by a 'smooth changeover': the ruling Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) having split almost in two with 27 defectors calling themselves 'Polish Social Democracy'. Not given to letting little things like party loyalty get in the way of publicity, it was these 27 leaving the SLD that led to Miller's resignation.
As the SLD imploded, President Kwaśniewski announced a former finance minister, Marek Belka, as Miller's preferred replacement. Given that Belka is currently in Iraq, coming back to Warsaw will probably seem like light relief. All he has to do is garner enough support among deputies in the Sejm, which shouldn't be too difficult as the incumbent left-wingers know full-well that they're out of a job come election day. And for the opposition parties, that day can't come soon enough.
EU Business quoted Donald Tusk, leader of the right-wing Civic Platform (PO), saying that the only solution was a general election. Although an election isn't necessary until late 2005, more voices are demanding that a national election be held at the same time as elections for the European Parliament this June. The PO are the front-runners in opposition at the moment, and their desire for an election as soon as possible is quite understandable. Over the last few months, slowly but inexorably, Andrzej Lepper's Samoobrona party has been making significant gains in opinion polls. Lepper is said most frequently in the Western media to be a 'populist,' which is probably one of the nicer ways of describing him. However, the English name of his party - Self Defense - gives a much better idea of what he stands for: an image of negativity and nationalism that even George Bush's re-election campaign team could learn something from. By constantly appearing in the media to ascribe all of Poland's troubles to, usually, the EU, he draws in all those (and there are many) struggling to cope with this country's transition. He offers few solutions, except to take what wealth has been created over the last 15 years and redistribute it 'fairly.' The concept of a Poland ruled by Lepper is not one to be dismissed lightly; from loud-mouth fringe farmer a couple of years ago, Lepper and his brand of isolationism is now only a few points behind the PO, and gaining all the time.
Surely, it can only be a matter of time before the majority of politicians realize that an early election is now an urgent necessity to help get Poland back on track. Before it's too late.
An article in EU Business was typical of the contradictions reporters found themselves having to write about. The first sentence contained the words "...Poland has been plunged into political crisis," while by the third paragraph we are told that "Poland's political leaders are pulling out all the stops to ensure a smooth changeover to a new government." Further on, the article explains what it means by a 'smooth changeover': the ruling Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) having split almost in two with 27 defectors calling themselves 'Polish Social Democracy'. Not given to letting little things like party loyalty get in the way of publicity, it was these 27 leaving the SLD that led to Miller's resignation.
As the SLD imploded, President Kwaśniewski announced a former finance minister, Marek Belka, as Miller's preferred replacement. Given that Belka is currently in Iraq, coming back to Warsaw will probably seem like light relief. All he has to do is garner enough support among deputies in the Sejm, which shouldn't be too difficult as the incumbent left-wingers know full-well that they're out of a job come election day. And for the opposition parties, that day can't come soon enough.
EU Business quoted Donald Tusk, leader of the right-wing Civic Platform (PO), saying that the only solution was a general election. Although an election isn't necessary until late 2005, more voices are demanding that a national election be held at the same time as elections for the European Parliament this June. The PO are the front-runners in opposition at the moment, and their desire for an election as soon as possible is quite understandable. Over the last few months, slowly but inexorably, Andrzej Lepper's Samoobrona party has been making significant gains in opinion polls. Lepper is said most frequently in the Western media to be a 'populist,' which is probably one of the nicer ways of describing him. However, the English name of his party - Self Defense - gives a much better idea of what he stands for: an image of negativity and nationalism that even George Bush's re-election campaign team could learn something from. By constantly appearing in the media to ascribe all of Poland's troubles to, usually, the EU, he draws in all those (and there are many) struggling to cope with this country's transition. He offers few solutions, except to take what wealth has been created over the last 15 years and redistribute it 'fairly.' The concept of a Poland ruled by Lepper is not one to be dismissed lightly; from loud-mouth fringe farmer a couple of years ago, Lepper and his brand of isolationism is now only a few points behind the PO, and gaining all the time.
Surely, it can only be a matter of time before the majority of politicians realize that an early election is now an urgent necessity to help get Poland back on track. Before it's too late.
