Polish coalition collapses, early polls loom

[Kellanved]

WARSAW (Reuters) - Polish conservative Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said on Thursday he will fire his rebellious deputy Andrzej Lepper, ending a four-month alliance with his leftist party after a budget row.

Kaczynski told a news conference that he would try to cobble together another majority in parliament, but if that task -- seen as difficult by analysts -- proves impossible, snap elections would be the only alternative.

"We are doing all we can to put together a majority but if it fails, early elections will be the only solution," Kaczynski said.

Tensions between the conservatives and Lepper's Self-Defense party reached a boiling point this week because of a growing rift over next year's budget and the plan to send more troops to Afghanistan.
...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/21/AR2006092101004.html

[Fenris]

1. Well, it was fun seeing twin child stars at the helm while it lasted.

It will be interesting to see how alienated the voters have become because of the Kaczynskis if an election is required.

[pinerow]

2. With any luck, the left will win in any future government...

the Polish government is rife with rightwingers...

[KamaAina]

3. Looks like somebody forgot Poland

:eyes:

[struggle4progress]

4. I wonder if the Poles are sick of Iraq yet:

Tue, Apr 20, 04
Poland planning pull-out of troops from Iraq
Derek Scally, in Warsaw

Poland is planning to withdraw its troops from Iraq in the coming months, dealing another blow to the US-led coalition forces there.

The revelation yesterday by a senior government adviser that Poland's 2,500 soldiers would leave Iraq comes just a day after the new Spanish Prime Minister, Mr José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, announced the pull-out of Spanish troops "as soon as possible" ...

http://www.ireland.com/newspaper/front/2004/0420/3783682793HM1SCALLY.html


Poland may pull troops out of Iraq
Monday, October 4, 2004 Posted: 2:20 PM EDT (1820 GMT)

(CNN) -- Poland may reduce its commitment of forces to the war in Iraq by 40 percent by January 2005 and have all its troops out by the end of that year, Polish officials said Monday ...

http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/10/04/iraq.polandtroops/


Last Updated: Tuesday, 27 December 2005, 22:43 GMT
Poland postpones Iraq withdrawal

Poland's government says it has taken the "very difficult decision" to extend its military deployment in Iraq until the end of 2006. The new conservative government's decision reverses the previous leftist administration's plan to pull troops out in early 2006 ...

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4562838.stm


Poland Provides Iraq with Helicopters and Electronic Surveillance Devices
September 16, 2006

... At the end of last June, Poland announced that its troops in Iraq will withdraw by mid-June of 2007 ...

http://www.edinarfinancial.net/news/?quer=&nm=&ny=&nn=350