Szmajdziński under pressure to become the SLD's presidential candidate

The name of Jezry Szmajdziński, the Minister of Defense, is increasingly being mooted, but he has not made the decision whether to run for the post yet. However, he has already got the support of the SLD secretary general Marek Dyduch and the party leader Józef Oleksy. Szmajdziński would also weaken the position of the candidate from the Polish Social Democracy (SDPL) Marek Borowski, whom Marek Dyduch yesterday nicknamed " a double traitor", since he both demaged the SLD and discouraged Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, "The only politician able to unite the Left", from running for the presidency. However, the SDPL leaders do not seem to be put off by the SLD aggressive rhetoric and call for uniting the Left around Borowski. "He is the only candidate able to confront the Right," declared Tomasz Nałęcz. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 7) E.B.