Left unites to oppose twins
President Lech Kaczyński's announcement that he is willing to call early elections has put leftist parties back on speaking terms.
The leaders of Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), Wojciech Olejniczak, and Polish Social Democracy (SdPl), Marek Borowski, have said that if the threat of early elections materializes, their parties will run together.
"We have to stop the Kaczyński brothers in their quest to gain absolute power, unlimited by law, public opinion or democracy. We can do that successfully only as a coalition," Borowski and Olejniczak wrote in a joint statement. The two leaders expressed the hope that former President Aleksander Kwaniewski, who was named "Politician of the Year" in a CEBOS poll for the 10th year in a row, would become the figurehead of the alliance.
They also expect that parties of the left, such as the Labor Union (UP), the Union of the Left (UL), and potentially the centrist Democratic Party (PD), headed by Władysław Frasyniuk, could join the coalition next year.
Borowski and Olejniczak also stated that their parties will run together in local government elections due to be held in autumn this year, with Borowski tipped at as the left's likely candidate for the post of Warsaw Mayor.
PiS representatives claim that the coalition does not pose a threat to their strong position.
