In the spotlight: Waldemar Pawlak

While Pawlak was a prominent politician in the early to mid-1990s, a year or two ago his political career seemed to be over. He was seen more often in official Fire Brigade uniforms - he is a member of the board of the Association of Voluntary Fire Brigades (ZOSP) - than taking part in front-page politics. Most people remember him as a dull, lethargic speaker - the opposite of the media-savvy politician. During his spell as Prime Minister, he exchanged the luxurious government limosine for a Polonez.

In 1992 Pawlak came out of virtually nowhere and was named Prime Minister at the age of 32, but he failed to form a majority government. A year later, following PSL's good showing in the general election, he again took up the post of Prime Minister, this time managing to form a coalition government with the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD). However, after a year and a half he was replaced by Józef Oleksy following a coalition crisis. Today, his PSL, which he again heads since January 2005, is once again taking part in coalition negotiations. This time Pawlak doesn't have to worry about running the government, but rumors have it that he could take the post of Economy Minister. Pawlak is a graduate of the department of automobiles and heavy machinery engineering at the Warsaw University of Technology.