PO declares it will vote against the new government

Both Donald Tusk and Jan Rokita emphasized that it is PiS who is responsible for the failure of the emerging coalition. "Kaczyński decided to form a weak government, based on the support of Self-Defense and the Polish Family League," said Tusk. According to Rokita, PiS purposely pushed PO away from the government. PO decided that the only way to renew negotiations concerning the PO-PiS coalition is to remove Andrzej Lepper from the post of a Deputy Sejm Speaker. Rokita claimed that in order to form a good government PiS needs a strong PO, "which would be ready to fight for plan to repair the state and the economy which has the courage to take difficult decisions." However, the end of Rokita's speech could be interpreted as a sign he is considering leaving the PO and entering the PiS' government. "It is time for PO to get rid off the mirage of forming a strong, decisive opposition," he said. According to PO deputies, the party is not in danger of splitting. "Rokita knows he would become a hostage of the Kaczyński brothers," said one of them. (Rzeczpospolita, pp. A1, A4; Gazeta Wyborcza, pp. 1, 4) A.F.