Parliamentary initiatives to form a government begin to run out of steam

Sejm Speaker Józef Oleksy has prolonged the deadline for submitting candidates to become prime minister until 8 a.m. on Wednesday at the request of Roman Jagieliński from the Federal Parliamentary Club (FKP). Jagieliński still believes that there is a chance to create a government supported by the Polish Peasants Party (PSL). He admitted that he had talked to Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) leader Krzysztof Janik on Sunday and added that, "The SLD's stance is ambiguous. They count on Belka, but one never knows. Anyway, PSL president Janusz Wojciechowski has agreed to continue talks [with the SLD]." However, Józef Oleksy yesterday said that Parliament is unlikely to be able to propose a government, so the initiative will probably pass back to President Kwaśniewski. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A5; Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 5) E.B.