In the spotlight: Jerzy Hausner
"Our paths have been drifting further and further apart, until they finally separated," Hausner explained to Radio TOK FM. At the same time, he assured supporters that he is not intending to quit the government, contrary to the expectations of disappointed SLD leaders who were insisting on his dismissal.
Having left one party, Hausner has already received several offers to join the ranks of his former foes. Both Polish Social Democracy (SdPl) and the Freedom Union (UW) are trying to entice the respected economist to join their parties.
Hausner himself does not appear to be considering joining forces with any of the existing groups. "I am interested in something new," he confessed to Gazeta Wyborcza. Despite wearing SLD's colors while occupying his office, Hausner had only once previously pursued party patronage when in the 1980s he was a secretary of the Polish United Workers Party (PZPR) in Kraków. After 1989 he avoided political factions, insisting that he is rather a "political maker" than a politician.
In 2001 he was back in politics. Just before the elections Hausner joined SLD and was elected the Minister of Labor and Social Policy in the government of Prime Minister Leszek Miller. Having been loyal to SLD though all these years, his attitude towards the party changed at the close of last year. "Being in SLD is about taking the advantages for nothing, and not about talking things over and changing the situation. It is a cooperative of private graduates," Hausner told Wprost in December.
As the Minister of Economy, Labor and Social Policy, since January 2003, and a professor of economics, he engineered the controversial 'Hausner Plan', which aims to curb administrative spending by zl.20.5 billion and social spending by zl.34.1 billion through 2007.
According to Henryka Bochniarz, the president of the Polish Confederation of Private Employers: "Jerzy Hausner is the first minister dealing with Polish economy who understands the employers' problems." A.B.
Having left one party, Hausner has already received several offers to join the ranks of his former foes. Both Polish Social Democracy (SdPl) and the Freedom Union (UW) are trying to entice the respected economist to join their parties.
Hausner himself does not appear to be considering joining forces with any of the existing groups. "I am interested in something new," he confessed to Gazeta Wyborcza. Despite wearing SLD's colors while occupying his office, Hausner had only once previously pursued party patronage when in the 1980s he was a secretary of the Polish United Workers Party (PZPR) in Kraków. After 1989 he avoided political factions, insisting that he is rather a "political maker" than a politician.
In 2001 he was back in politics. Just before the elections Hausner joined SLD and was elected the Minister of Labor and Social Policy in the government of Prime Minister Leszek Miller. Having been loyal to SLD though all these years, his attitude towards the party changed at the close of last year. "Being in SLD is about taking the advantages for nothing, and not about talking things over and changing the situation. It is a cooperative of private graduates," Hausner told Wprost in December.
As the Minister of Economy, Labor and Social Policy, since January 2003, and a professor of economics, he engineered the controversial 'Hausner Plan', which aims to curb administrative spending by zl.20.5 billion and social spending by zl.34.1 billion through 2007.
According to Henryka Bochniarz, the president of the Polish Confederation of Private Employers: "Jerzy Hausner is the first minister dealing with Polish economy who understands the employers' problems." A.B.
