Security, but at a price

Last Wednesday PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński called on opposition parties to provide the government with six months of support on key issues in order to avoid early elections and open the door to coalition talks.

"If the parties do not accept the offer, right after February 1 President Lech Kaczyński will dissolve the Sejm," announced Jarosław Kaczyński.

The favored candidate for coalition, Civic Platform (PO), rejected the ultimatum but later mellowed its stance and as WBJ went to press was still in talks with PiS leaders and the President.

On the other hand, the populist Self-defense (SO) and the League of Polish Families (LPR) are eager to accept the ruling party's conditions in return for concessions that would cost the budget zł.33.5 billion, an amount exceeding the deficit planned for 2006. LPR demanded assurances on benefits for unemployed mothers in families with more than one child and bonuses for the poorest pensioners, while SO wants to grant an zł.800 monthly allowance to the unemployed whose joblessness is not their fault. SO and the Polish Peasants' Party (PSL) also believe the National Bank of Poland (NBP) should take a more active role in supporting economic growth.

"We can make a concession in this sense that we will supplement the stabilization pact with a bill on the central bank," Kaczyński answered.

However, Roman Giertych, the leader of LPR, also demanded that a vote on the budget be fast-tracked, to make it impossible for President Kaczyński to call early elections. PiS refused and the Sejm Speaker Marek Jurek announced that the voting would take place on January 24, shortly before the deadline opening the door to early elections. (Reuters)