Two days before budget vote, its supporters have a slight edge in Sejm

With two days left until Saturday's decisive vote on the 2001 budget, the supporters of the government draft, namely Solidarity Election Action (AWS) and Freedom Union (UW), seem to have an edge over the opposition of roughly ten votes. Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) deputies used yesterday's second reading of the budget draft as an opportunity to slam it. SLD called the draft an "evacuation budget" meant to give the government 10 months to comfortably part with power, before this fall's parliamentary elections. UW decided to support the budget after amendments were introduced, most of them boosting spending on education by a total of some zl.900 million. However, SLD claims that these expenditures will have to be cut during the year anyway, as revenues are overestimated. If the Sejm rejects the budget on Saturday, President Aleksander Kwasniewski will likely dissolve Parliament, resulting in elections in the spring. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p.1, Zycie, p.1) T.J.