The SLD leadership resign in hope new blood will revive the party's fortunes

The new leaders will be elected during a convention next weekend. "This is a signal that we are gathering strength to fight," said Józef Oleksy, who will be SLD leader only until Sunday, adding that, "We will soon have to fight with the Right and our own weaknesses, so we need fresh people." Oleksy announced he is not going to run in the party elections. Marek Dyduch, the party's secretary general, is the most probable candidate to take over as party leader. The new leaders will stay in their posts only for a limited period as after the general election the SLD will hold an extraordinary convention to choose a new party leadership. Meanwhile, the SLD is still pressing Jerzy Szmajdziński to run as the party's presidential candidate, but the TV news reported that he has refused and suggested that Agriculture Minister Wojciech Olejniczak would be a better person for the job. In the meantime, the Ordynacka association is gathering signatures of leading left-wing figures which will be sent to Sejm Speaker Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz in an attempt to persuade him to change his mind and run as the SLD's presidential candidate. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A5) D.W.