Mine, all mine

The Polish Confederation of Private Employers (PKPP) Lewiatan, a leading business advocacy group, has said that it will press on in resisting a law on miners' pension's rights from coming into effect, despite the government's withdrawal of a legal challenge to the law, which had been mounted by the previous administration.

The new law, which would cost the country zł.18 billion by 2010, was passed in a spending spree before September's general elections. It had been challenged in court by the government at the time, led by Marek Belka, who opposed the handout.

However the new Law and Justice (PiS) minority government last week decided to rescind the protest. PiS had originally supported the law when it was voted on in the Sejm.

"Today we decided to withdraw the challenge to the law on miners' pensions that had been submitted to the Constitutional Tribunal," Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz said after a weekly cabinet meeting.

The measure is controversial not only because of its costs - more than half of Poland's budget deficit - but also because it focuses solely on miners' pensions.

"We will oppose this law as it is a bad law. We will ask the court to decide on its legal status," said Joanna Zaręba, a spokeswoman for PKPP Lewiatan.

The measure followed violent street protests by miners. It is seen as one of the biggest obstacles to Poland keeping finances within eurozone convergence criteria.

"This law is the single greatest danger for Poland's public finances," said Katarzyna Zajdel-Kurowska, chief economist at Citigroup Bank Handlowy in Warsaw.(Reuters)