Gilowska's return?

As WBJ was going to press, former Finance Minister Zyta Gilowska was just about to announce her decision concerning her comeback to the government. Yet Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński and several coalition politicians have already expressed their firm belief that she would agree.

PM Kaczyński said that Gilowska would be appointed as Finance Minister and Deputy Prime Minister when both he and his twin brother President Lech Kaczyński returned from their visits abroad. According to Przemysław Gosiewski, head of the cabinet's standing committee, Gilowska's nomination was just a matter of setting a date and arranging a ceremony.

If she comes back to the coalition government, which scrapped most of her reform proposals, Gilowska will face conflicts over the 2007 budget and will need to sign a budget bill which she did not prepare. However, it is believed that Law and Justice (PiS) needs Gilowska, who is respected by financial markets, to provide  balance to the demands of Deputy Prime Ministers Roman Giertych and Andrzej Lepper.

Jarosław Kaczyński offered Gilowska her old job back after the vetting court ruled that Gilowska's vetting statement was truthful and she had not collaborated with communist secret services (SB).

If Gilowska agrees, this will be the fifth reshuffle of Finance Minsters since PiS took power last autumn. It has been suggested that the current Minister, Stanisław Kluza, will be assigned the post of Deputy Finance Minister. Previously, the office of Finance Minister was also held by Paweł Wojciechowski and Teresa Lubińska. (Reuters)