Poland's conservative prime minister-designate Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz was quoted today as saying he had all but agreed the cabinet line-up with the smaller Civic Platform party.
"Most portfolios have been already divided, although we are still arguing about two or three of them," Mr Marcinkiewicz told the Gazeta Wyborczadaily.
Mr Marcinkiewicz hopes to complete the cabinet talks with his pro-business ally by the end of this week after his Law and Justice party tightened its grip on power with the victory of its leader, Lech Kaczynski, in yesterday's presidential elections.
Sources said Mr Marcinkiewicz offered Civic Platform's deputy chief, Jan Rokita, the post of deputy prime minister and the foreign affairs portfolio, a key post in shaping Poland 's relations with its European Union partners.
Mr Rokita heads his pro-business party's negotiating team and supports deeper European integration.
Law and Justice, which won general elections last month on a platform combining pledges to tackle crime and high-level corruption with promises to protect the welfare state, wants to control the justice and interior ministries, sources said.