Polish PM to push for early elections

Poland’s governing Law and Justice party has decided to push for early elections amid strife with its two coalition partners, Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said today.

Kaczynski told a news conference his party could no longer govern with its partners, nor without them.

“I see no possibility of supporting a minority government, and we don’t want to have the kind of government he have had recently,” Kaczynski said.

He cited October 21 as a possible date for early elections.

He hinted some ministers from his Cabinet are soon to be dismissed, as was suggested today by his deputy, Roman Giertych, but gave no detail.

Giertych, head of the League of Polish Families, and leaders of the Self Defence party have suggested Kaczynski is trying to break up the coalition following his firing last month of Self Defence leader Andrzej Lepper on corruption suspicions.

“Let the elections be a plebiscite in which people will say what kind of Poland they want,” Kaczynski said.

Early elections can be triggered by a vote of self-dissolution in parliament or by the president’s decision to dissolve parliament.

Since Prime Minister Kaczynski’s twin brother, Lech Kaczynski, holds the office of president, the premier’s push for early elections seems likely to succeed. The president is also the authority who sets the date for the vote.

President Kaczynski, who co-founded Law and Justice with his brother but gave up membership when he became president, met Donald Tusk, the head of the main opposition Civic Platform, on Thursday.

The meeting was seen as a clear sign they were trying to overcome differences that prevented the two main parties from forming a so-called grand coalition after the fall 2005 elections, which pushed Law and Justice into the difficult pact with the two small radical parties.

Recent opinion polls suggest Law and Justice would likely lose an election to Civic Platform by a narrow margin, and together could form a majority government.