Polish government faces confidence vote it could lose

POLAND: The future of the Polish minority government is on the line today after the Prime Minister, Mr Leszek Miller, called a confidence motion he is not sure of winning.

Mr Miller yesterday ruled out any last-minute horse-trading or "this for that" backroom deals with opposition parties. "Either you support the government or you don't," he said.

He was speaking after the five-member Polish People's Block (PBL) said they would only back the government if the agriculture minister, Mr Adam Tanski, was fired.

The League of Polish Families, an ultra-conservative opposition party, said it was confident that the government would lose the vote by two or three votes and collapse.

Mr Miller called the confidence motion to shore up support for his minority government after the positive outcome of last weekend's EU referendum.

The Peasants Party, ousted from the ruling coalition in March, and the four other main opposition groups are all expected to vote against the government in a 205-vote block.

The minority government has 209 seats in the 460-seat parliament, the Sejm. It is well short of a majority and is at the mercy of several smaller parties and independent deputies. Anything less than a clear vote of confidence in the government will spell the end of the 20-month coalition lead by Mr Miller's Democratic Left Alliance (SLD).

"Will the government live past Friday?" asked the Gazeta Wyborcza newspaper yesterday, indicating the significance of today's vote.

Mr Miller's coalition government is the most unpopular administration in Poland's post-communist history, laid low by a serious bribery scandal and a failure to tackle unemployment.

If the government falls, the president or opposition parties have a chance to put together an alternative administration. Failing that, fresh elections will be called.

The domestic political drama is eating up precious time which Poland needs to prepare for EU accession, just 11 months away and counting.