SLD sacks four deputies over unlawful Parliamentary voting

The Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) expelled four of its MP's on Thursday saying they cheated in a vote on Wednesday which marked a key test of strength for the minority administration. Two deputies from the SLD were found to have voted with the cards of two absent colleagues, helping the government defeat a no-confidence motion against Infrastructure Minister Marek Pol. On Thursday SLD chief whip Wacław Martyniuk called for a re-run of the vote and urged the four, who include the head of Parliament's Finance Committee Mieczysław Czerniawski, to resign as MPs. In the vote, the SLD defeated two opposition motions to oust the Minister, one by 231 to 209 and a second by 230 to 211, which indicated that the misuse of votes made no difference to the outcome. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A1; Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 1; Reuters) J.K.