The leaders of tomorrow?

The demands by PiS presidential candidate Lech Kaczński fly in the face of current poll leaders Civic Platform's (PO) apparently conciliatory approach. Last week PO's would-be Prime Minister Jan Rokita said that even if his party obtained an absolute majority in the parliamentary elections, the party wants to form a coalition with Law and Justice.

However, PiS's Kaczyński said the proposed coalition between the two parties would not be possible if at least one of the top Ministerial posts in the new government is not taken by a PiS member.

"If PO will have its Prime Minister and Finance Minister, we want to have our Foreign Affairs Minister," said Kaczyński.

With competition for the highest offices expected to be fierce, political analysts have drawn-up a list of potential candidates for key economic positions in the proposed coalition.

Finance Minister

Barring a strong victory for Law and Justice, politicians and analysts widely expect the Ministry to go to the Civic Platform and its agenda of fiscal cuts, fast euro entry and lower corporate and income tax rates.

But the new Minister is likely to face Law and Justice resistance to cuts in welfare benefits and a swift push into the single currency, and will need to manage a compromise over the two parties' differing tax proposals.

Political sources say the Civic Platform is as yet undecided whether to make a political appointment to the Ministry or pick one of the economic experts who work on its policy program.

Stefan Kawalec (Civic Platform)

A respected economist and Finance Ministry veteran from the early 1990s, Kawalec, 52, keeps a low public profile and has avoided the political limelight.

He began his post-communist career during the much-praised 'shock therapy' market reforms in 1989-1991, when he was chief adviser to then Finance Minister, and now Central Bank Governor, Leszek Balcerowicz.

Later a Deputy Finance Minister, he stayed on under the leftist government only to be sacked in 1994 in a controversy surrounding a major banking privatization, which may make him less palatable for Law and Justice. Kawalec has worked in business since and is now director of strategy with Poland's biggest insurer, PZU SA. He has led the Platform's economic policy working group for the last two years.

Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz (Civic Platform)

As Central Bank Governor in 1992-2000, Gronkiewicz-Waltz, 53, oversaw reforms that nursed Poland's banking sector out of crisis, re-establishing lender faith and eventually helped make it the most streamlined and competitive in central Europe.

A law lecturer, she was deputy head of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development after leaving the Central Bank and remains untested on fiscal policy. She speaks English, Russian and French.

"It is a very tough job and I think that the Minister must be someone who is expert in budget affairs and close to the vision of [Civic Platform Prime Ministerial candidate] Jan Rokita, who wants to drive economic matters," she recently commented on the post.

Well-connected politically, she leads the Platform's Warsaw electoral list, and is also cited as a potential candidate for Mayor of the Polish capital.

Zbigniew Chlebowski (Civic Platform)

Chlebowski, 41, has been the Platform's main economic spokesperson, although he has little practical experience with implementing economic policy at a national level.

For 11 years the Mayor of his home town in Lower Silesia, he entered parliament at the last election and cut his policy teeth chairing a committee dealing with fiscal reform plans.

If the party opts for a political appointee, sources say Chlebowski could lead the race along Gronkiewicz-Waltz.

He has a degree from Wrocław's Academy of Agriculture. He speaks fluent German and some English.

Rafał Antczak (Civic Platform)

A die-hard liberal economist, Antczak, 35, works at the CASE research institute, shares the views of Central Bank chief Leszek Balcerowicz, and is generally seen as the brains behind the Platform's economic policy program.

Sharp and uncompromising in arguing his views, he designed the party's flat 15-percent rate corporate, VAT and income tax policy and supports sharp cuts in welfare and administrative spending.

Since 1994 he has worked as a policy adviser to governments and central banks in Ukraine, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Belarus and Moldova. He speaks fluent English, good Russian and some Ukrainian and Belarussian.

Economy/State

Treasury Ministry

Political sources say a strong result for Law and Justice would lead it to fight hard for control of a new Economy Super-Ministry that both parties want to replace the current Economy and Treasury ministries.

The new Ministry will be charged with speeding up privatization, as well as supporting growth and job creation.

Adam Szejnfeld (Civic Platform)

The head of the Lower House of parliament's economy committee and a lawyer by training, Szejnfeld, 46, has close ties with business and supports a wide-ranging rationalization of state administration and taxation.

In the last parliament he authored numerous bills aimed at encouraging entrepreneurship, investment and job creation, particularly among small- and medium-sized businesses but has no experience of running economic policy in government.

Piotr Kamiński

Currently a board member at the state-controlled bank PKO BP, Kaminski, 36, is a market insider with experience as the deputy head of the Warsaw Stock Exchange and eight years at Poland's securities commission.

He has a business degree from Warsaw University and is known to have good contacts in the Platform.

Cezary Mech (Law and Justice)

The author of Law and Justice's economic program, Mech is an economist by training and the former head of Poland's pension-fund watchdog. He favors an interventionist economic policy, but also supports the fiscal reforms needed to stabilize public finances and ensure Poland meets euro-entry conditions.

In July's policy program, Mech proposed freezing the budget deficit at zł.30 billion in 2006-9, along with a series of tax rebates for business to spur job creation.

But he also warned against rushing too fast into the euro, saying it would only benefit foreign speculators, and called for the Central Bank to significantly lower Polish interest rates to weaken the złoty and boost credit growth. (Reuters)