Right-wing MPs propose vote of no-confidence for Kamela-Sowinska

Investor-friendly and market-darling Treasury Minister Aldona Kamela-Sowinska has come under fire from 120 right-wing parliamentarians, who yesterday proposed a vote of no-confidence for the Polish "Iron Lady," sending key stocks plunging sharply. The MPs accuse the minister of improper supervision of state-owned property and a lack of any concept for its privatization. Despite the accusations, the minister reiterated she would stay her course. Among many examples of poor property management cited were the lack of any firm action in the steel sector and the ambiguous tender for the computer system for the state lottery Totalizator Sportowy (TS). The MPs claim the ministry likewise has no strategy for the agriculture industry. According to sources close to the MPs, the bone of contention is the sugar sector and the number of sugar mills that will form the Polski Cukier holding. "I am able to answer all the charges. I think this is an attempt to punish me for the industrious and professional performance of my constitutional duties," the minister argued. (Rzeczpospolita, p. B1; Reuters) J.K.