To the power of two
Nine months after Law and Justice's (PiS) leader, Jarosław Kaczyński, promised not to take the second key post in the country if his twin brother, Lech, won the presidential election, the governing party unanimously decided he should replace Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz as the head of the cabinet.
"I would like to state clearly that the mission started by Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz and his government will be continued," Jarosław Kaczyński stressed during a ceremony at which his brother appointed him Prime Minister.
Largely thanks to astute PR, the former PM Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz became the most popular politician in the country, although no one would have predicted it when he was nominated. While the media viewed him as a puppet of the influential party leader Jarosław, Marcinkiewicz enjoyed greater support than either of the Kaczyńskis. And far from being a stooge to the twins, it appears that his independent decisions cost him the post.
Last month Marcinkiewicz hastily dismissed Finance Minister Zyta Gilowska over allegations of her collaboration with communist secret services and replaced her with Paweł Wojciechowski, a man unknown to the Kaczyński brothers. Then, during a visit to the Tri-city, he met with opposition leader Donald Tusk. Jarosław Kaczyński only found out about the meeting from television coverage.
The new PM does not have any plans for a major cabinet reshuffle. However, he immediately installed a new man, Stanisław Kluza, at the helm of the Finance Ministry. When WBJ went to press Jarosław Kaczyński had presented his plan for government, but was waiting for a vote of confidence from parliament, which should take place this week. But while he was almost certain to obtain the support of his coalition peers, the country as a whole has little confidence in their new leader. Opinion polls showed that while over 80 percent of those surveyed believed Marcinkiewicz was a good Prime Minister, just 21 percent expected Kaczyński to do a good job.
The popular Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz is not going to disappear from the political scene, however. He will soon take over from Mirosław Kochalski as acting president of Warsaw and will run for the permanent position in November's local elections.
"Politics is a team game, and demands teamwork. Nobody will succeed in driving a wedge between me and PiS and between me and Jarosław Kaczyński," Marcinkiewicz said, seemingly undaunted by his ups and downs with the party bosses.
