The good ol' boys
Well, yes, so there was live TV coverage of the two nomination ceremonies of Belka's two - slightly different each time - Cabinets, and there was the replacement of two key ministers after just a few weeks in office. But that's the thing exactly. It was just what Prime Minister Leszek Miller had been doing for years.
The same old Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) remained in power, with Minister Aleksandra Jakubowska's monumentally bad taste in clothing being replaced with the only marginally better taste of Deputy Prime Minister Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka. This is a government of experts, as testified by Jaruga- Nowacka's nomination: she is an expert on Mongolia. Leaving aside the rather poor jokes that this country might soon be as depopulated as Genghis Kahn's homeland, if the standard of governance does not improve, the new government did not seem all that awfully new, or all that awfully anything else for that matter, other than, in the opinion of some, generally just being awful.
Then, about two weeks ago, the floodgates opened. First came the personnel decisions that displeased the SLD rank and file, and the leadership in particular. Andrzej Ananicz, whom the SLD accuses of spying on it at the time of the right-wing AWS government of 1997-2001, was given to the top intelligence service job, leading the SLD to threaten the prime minister with a walkout. Belka called the bluff and the ruling party's impotence was exposed. The SLD could do nothing to stop Ananicz's nomination, as an early election, which would inevitably follow Belka's dismissal, could see it voted out of parliament.
The simple fact is that Belka is President Aleksander Kwaśniewski's man, and as long as he enjoys the president's support, he is beyond the reach of the SLD, or anyone else. So now that Kwaśniewski has made a show of strength, Belka is on a roll. He has introduced proposals to reform the civil service in a rare departure from the previous government's policy. Instead of stepping up political meddling with the supposedly independent civil service, Belka proposes that the heads of 31 central government offices be replaced within six months in open competitions, thus ensuring meritocracy.
But the SLD's old woes have not gone away. While Belka's proposal sounds like a good idea, since the low quality of civil service is one of the most frequent complaints, the inevitable doubts were aired immediately. What if the real idea is to get the jobs for the boys just before the government goes out? What if the reform is all about locking the 'right guys' into the top jobs and forcing the next government to put up with them? Ah, what about the phrase allowing the prime minister to dismiss a bureaucrat for their "taking decisions that are not in line with government policy?" others ask.
The two lines of attack may be mutually contradictory to some extent, but that is beside the point. The problem is that the prime minister, and his Cabinet, do not really have any friends anywhere on the political spectrum. Except in the presidential palace, that is. And, since its political base happens to be the unpopular SLD, which does not even enjoy a majority in parliament, does Marek Belka really have the power to get through any of the necessary reforms?
The answer may be yes, if only for the lack of alternatives. Belka's may be an unloved Cabinet, but it just might have enough life in it to get some of the more urgent reforms through. After all, the health act passed by the lower house of parliament in mid-July was one such piece of legislation.
And don't forget the powerful asset that Belka enjoys. His predecessor Leszek Miller resigned on May 2, thus fulfilling his dream of being the man to lead Poland into the EU, but it is Belka who is reaping the benefits of the structural funds. No country before had enjoyed such positive net flows from the Union's budget in its first year of membership, the statisticians revealed last week.
And don't forget the important psychological victory for the country, as Danuta Hübner, the former chief negotiator, was appointed European commissioner for regional policy. Her pulling power in Brussels may turn out to be limited, but it feels good to know that the woman in charge of all that cash flowing into the country will be Polish.
So Belka may even achieve some successes, despite having no better reason to be in office than the simple fact that no one could think of anything better. Well, stranger things have happened.
The same old Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) remained in power, with Minister Aleksandra Jakubowska's monumentally bad taste in clothing being replaced with the only marginally better taste of Deputy Prime Minister Izabela Jaruga-Nowacka. This is a government of experts, as testified by Jaruga- Nowacka's nomination: she is an expert on Mongolia. Leaving aside the rather poor jokes that this country might soon be as depopulated as Genghis Kahn's homeland, if the standard of governance does not improve, the new government did not seem all that awfully new, or all that awfully anything else for that matter, other than, in the opinion of some, generally just being awful.
Then, about two weeks ago, the floodgates opened. First came the personnel decisions that displeased the SLD rank and file, and the leadership in particular. Andrzej Ananicz, whom the SLD accuses of spying on it at the time of the right-wing AWS government of 1997-2001, was given to the top intelligence service job, leading the SLD to threaten the prime minister with a walkout. Belka called the bluff and the ruling party's impotence was exposed. The SLD could do nothing to stop Ananicz's nomination, as an early election, which would inevitably follow Belka's dismissal, could see it voted out of parliament.
The simple fact is that Belka is President Aleksander Kwaśniewski's man, and as long as he enjoys the president's support, he is beyond the reach of the SLD, or anyone else. So now that Kwaśniewski has made a show of strength, Belka is on a roll. He has introduced proposals to reform the civil service in a rare departure from the previous government's policy. Instead of stepping up political meddling with the supposedly independent civil service, Belka proposes that the heads of 31 central government offices be replaced within six months in open competitions, thus ensuring meritocracy.
But the SLD's old woes have not gone away. While Belka's proposal sounds like a good idea, since the low quality of civil service is one of the most frequent complaints, the inevitable doubts were aired immediately. What if the real idea is to get the jobs for the boys just before the government goes out? What if the reform is all about locking the 'right guys' into the top jobs and forcing the next government to put up with them? Ah, what about the phrase allowing the prime minister to dismiss a bureaucrat for their "taking decisions that are not in line with government policy?" others ask.
The two lines of attack may be mutually contradictory to some extent, but that is beside the point. The problem is that the prime minister, and his Cabinet, do not really have any friends anywhere on the political spectrum. Except in the presidential palace, that is. And, since its political base happens to be the unpopular SLD, which does not even enjoy a majority in parliament, does Marek Belka really have the power to get through any of the necessary reforms?
The answer may be yes, if only for the lack of alternatives. Belka's may be an unloved Cabinet, but it just might have enough life in it to get some of the more urgent reforms through. After all, the health act passed by the lower house of parliament in mid-July was one such piece of legislation.
And don't forget the powerful asset that Belka enjoys. His predecessor Leszek Miller resigned on May 2, thus fulfilling his dream of being the man to lead Poland into the EU, but it is Belka who is reaping the benefits of the structural funds. No country before had enjoyed such positive net flows from the Union's budget in its first year of membership, the statisticians revealed last week.
And don't forget the important psychological victory for the country, as Danuta Hübner, the former chief negotiator, was appointed European commissioner for regional policy. Her pulling power in Brussels may turn out to be limited, but it feels good to know that the woman in charge of all that cash flowing into the country will be Polish.
So Belka may even achieve some successes, despite having no better reason to be in office than the simple fact that no one could think of anything better. Well, stranger things have happened.
