SLD scrambles
The SLD has called for a new round of talks with fellow leftist parties to create a unified block to fight the general and presidential elections.
The SLD appears to be heading for a crushing defeat in parliamentary polls, demoralized by defections and languishing on single digits in opinion polls following a string of sleaze scandals and near-20 percent unemployment.
"We want to meet leaders of leftist groups. We want to go to the elections with a large leftist block and with a joint candidate for the presidential elections," SLD leader Jozef Oleksy said.
Oleksy said he was waiting for a response from the Social Democracy of Poland (SDPL), a party formed by SLD defectors last year and still hostile to its leaders, who have failed to revamp their ex-communist, sleazy image.
The SLD also wants talks with leftist trade unions and with the Labour Union (UP), a small far-left party which went to the poll in 2001 jointly with the SLD but has since distanced itself.
Analysts said Oleksy's best chance for leftist unity may be the low support for the SDPL and the UP - with both groups struggling to gain the five percent backing needed to gain representation in parliament. (Reuters)
The SLD appears to be heading for a crushing defeat in parliamentary polls, demoralized by defections and languishing on single digits in opinion polls following a string of sleaze scandals and near-20 percent unemployment.
"We want to meet leaders of leftist groups. We want to go to the elections with a large leftist block and with a joint candidate for the presidential elections," SLD leader Jozef Oleksy said.
Oleksy said he was waiting for a response from the Social Democracy of Poland (SDPL), a party formed by SLD defectors last year and still hostile to its leaders, who have failed to revamp their ex-communist, sleazy image.
The SLD also wants talks with leftist trade unions and with the Labour Union (UP), a small far-left party which went to the poll in 2001 jointly with the SLD but has since distanced itself.
Analysts said Oleksy's best chance for leftist unity may be the low support for the SDPL and the UP - with both groups struggling to gain the five percent backing needed to gain representation in parliament. (Reuters)
