POLAND: Poland's unpopular ruling Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) wants to hold early general elections in May 2005, party officials said yesterday.
Elections must be held by the end of next year, but Poland's ruling left has been under opposition pressure to call early polls since it became embroiled in sleaze scandals which drove its popularity to all-time lows.
"We would like elections to take place in late May," SLD leader Krzysztof Janik told private radio TOK FM.
SLD has said it would pick an election date by September 23rd.
Interior Minister Ryszard Kalisz confirmed his party was looking to hold elections a year after Poland joined the European Union.
Poland was among 10 mainly Eastern European countries that joined the bloc in May.
"This is an ideal time because it allows the next government to prepare the (2006) national budget," he told Reuters.
The Polish parliament would have to pass a motion calling for early elections with a two-thirds majority. The right-wing opposition League of Polish Families (LPS) filed a similar motion to dissolve parliament this week, but without the support of SLD it is doomed to fail.
Public opinion of SLD has risen in recent weeks after parliament approved the premiership of Marek Belka, seen as charismatic, straight-talking and sleaze-free.
But the 7 per cent backing it got in a mid-August poll is small compared to the 41 per cent it scored in a 2001 general election.
Mr Janik also outlined plans to help the poorest Poles by raising the tax-free income bracket, while curbing tax-free benefits for the richest. These reforms, he said, if passed by parliament, would not punch a hole in the budget.