Lepper suggests a little more pork for the budget

Self-Defense wants to change the 2007 budgetary bill. Party leader Andrzej Lepper wants to increase social welfare and agriculture expenditures for the next year, adding roughly zł.30 billion to the budget. Lepper went on to suggest increasing the budget deficit by over zł.30 billion, triggering outrage from other parties who interpret this as a ploy to win support for local election campaigns. They reminded Self-Defense about the EU accession treaty, according to which our budget deficit must not exceed 3% GDP. Lepper has threatened to cause early elections in the coming spring should his demands be ignored. The League of Polish Families (LPR) supports a bid for cheaper farmers' fuel, but this is the only proposition likely to see acceptance. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p.21, Rzeczpospolita, pp.B1-2) J.L.