Fresh Election On The Cards
Parliament has just missed a crucial deadline to pass the 2006 budget. A snap general election now seems probable.
The Polish constitution says that if the budget is not passed within four months, the president can shorten parliament's term and call a fresh election. President Kaczynski has two weeks to decide whether to stage a new election. A possible date indicated by the media is March 26th.
The 2006 budget was sent to parliament on Sept. 30 by the previous leftist government. It was resubmitted on Oct. 19 following parliamentary elections that brought the conservative Law and Justice Party to power. As attempts to speed up work on the budget by opposition groups fearing fresh elections were blocked by the minority government, the deadline has been missed.
Now President Kaczynski has two weeks to decide whether to stage a new election, which must be held on a Sunday within 45 days of the decision. A possible date indicated by the media is March 26.
The only way to avoid an early election that most Poles tell opinion pollsters that they do not want, is for the government to seek new coalitions with the pro-business centrist opposition or a six-month power sharing agreement with far-left and nationalist-right fringe groups.
So far talks have made little headway and the opposition has criticised Law and Justice for making "insincere offers" aimed at avoiding the responsibility for triggering a second general election in six months.