In the spotlight: Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz

This move is widely seen as an attempt to help PiS' presidential candidate Lech Kaczyński. However, it contradicts the party's pre-election statements that the party leader would become Prime Minister if PiS won. This decision has resulted in a cooling of relations between PiS and Civic Platform (PO) even before they worked out the lineup and the common program of the likely coalition government, as PO officials demand confirmation that Marcinkiewicz is not just a temporary candidate until the outcome of the presidential vote. The current situation is reminiscent of the outcome of the 1997 elections when the virtually unknown Jerzy Buzek rather than Solidarność leader Marian Krzaklewski became Prime Minister and was widely regarded as the party's figurehead.

Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz is not a man out of nowhere. In the outgoing parliament he was the head of the State Treasury Commission and was recognized as PiS' economic expert. Before the elections he was expected to be the party's candidate for the post of Minister of Education or one of the economic ministries. In 1992-93 Marcinkiewicz was the Deputy Minister of Education in Hanna Suchocka's Solidarity government. He is also a Knight of Malta.