POLAND: Poland's ruling leftists closed ranks behind a prime ministerial candidate, Mr Marek Belka, yesterday, vowing to back his cabinet and seek a parliamentary majority able to guarantee he will stay in power.
Mr Belka will be appointed to replace outgoing the Prime Minister, Mr Leszek Miller, tomorrow, the day after Poland joins the EU with a ceremony in Dublin.
He will need to win a parliamentary vote of confidence, a tough task given that the ruling Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) and its allies are some 30 votes short of a majority.
Mr Belka presented his cabinet candidates to the SLD and President Aleksander Kwasniewski late on Thursday and said he would seek longer-term changes in some ministerial portfolios.
"Marek Belka may count on full SLD support for his mission and his cabinet," said Mr Bronislaw Cieslak, the SLD caucus spokesman.
"We are aware that this alone will not guarantee the confidence vote and we will continue talks with other parliamentary groups on gaining a stable majority," he added.
Party leaders hope they will be able to win backing from their former coalition partner, the Peasants Party (PSL), whose 37 deputies would suffice for a parliamentary majority.
An SLD member said Mr Kwasniewski would also seek to turn the hearts of SdPl, a 33-member group of leftist deputies who split from the SLD last month leading to Mr Miller's resignation.
At the meeting Mr Belka confirmed that his cabinet would include several members of the outgoing government: the Economy Minister, Mr Jerzy Hausner, the Finance Minister, Mr Andrzej Raczko, the Foreign Minister, Mr Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz, and the Defence Minister, Mr Jerzy Szmajdzinski.
The Farm Minister, Mr Wojciech Olejniczak, is also to keep his job.
But Mr Cieslak said Mr Belka wanted to split the treasury portfolio in future, shifting control over privatisation to the finance ministry.
Also social security issues, now in the economy ministry, may in future be grouped together with healthcare and healthcare reform in one ministerial portfolio.
Two portfolios, justice and environmental protection, have not been filled, leaving the door open for PSL appointments, were they to decide to back the new government. - (Reuters)