Three-way tie
As WBJ went to press, President Lech Kaczyński was handing out nominations for new Ministers in the coalition cabinet formed by Law and Justice (PiS), populist Self-defense (SO) and the nationalist League of Polish Families (LPR). Andrzej Lepper, the leader of SO, was nominated as Deputy Prime Minister and took over the helm of the Agriculture Ministry, replacing Krzysztof Jurgiel (PiS). Roman Giertych, head of the anti-EU LPR, now holds the titles of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Education.
"Although the new coalition government in its current composition will not have an easy life, I'm sure it will succeed," President Kaczyński said during the nomination ceremony.
The stabilization pact that PiS signed with the same parties in February lasted only a couple of weeks. PiS was especially unimpressed by Roman Giertych openly criticizing its decisions and program. As a result, the leader of PiS, Jarosław Kaczyński, filed a motion in the Sejm for the self-dissolution of parliament in a bid to trigger early elections. The motion was rejected and since then the governing party has been in coalition talks with SO, LPR and the Peasants' Party (PSL), which finally decided against joining.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Stefan Meller, tendered his resignation, explaining that he couldn't work in the same cabinet as SO leader Lepper. His post remains unfilled, but among the front runners for the position are the current Defense Minister, Radek Sikorski, and Anna Fotyga, who is now Deputy Foreign Minister.
Following the formation of the PiS-LPR-SO coalition, the previous Ministry of Education and Science headed by Michał Seweryński was split in two, with Giertych now at the helm of the Ministry of National Education and Seweryński keeping his ministerial position in the new Ministry of Science and Higher Education. Another department that has been split is the Ministry for Transport and Construction - its former chief Jerzy Polaczek is now Minister of Transport while a separate Ministry of Construction will be headed by SO's Antoni Jaszczak.
A brand new Maritime Economy Ministry was created for an LPR representative, Rafał Wiechecki, while Anna Kalata from SO replaced Krzysztof Michałkiewicz as the Minister of Labor and Social Policy.
"We have a coalition that has a chance to quickly implement a set of laws that will change our social life," President Kaczyński said after swearing in the new Ministers.
Surveys show most Poles disapprove of the fringe groups entering the government, although conservatives argue the two parties have mellowed and made major policy concessions.
