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The Kaczynski brothers are preparing early parliamentary elections

Despite the parliamentary holidays, the Polish Sejm was buzzing like a beehive yesterday. The deputies heatedly discussed the political calendar that had been leaked to the Polish press, which the authorities were going to offer them. So, on August 22, the deputies return from official leave and decide to dissolve the Sejm. If this happens, parliamentary elections may be scheduled for September 30. According to media reports, Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski may announce this tomorrow.

The political crisis in Poland erupted on July 9 with the resignation of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture Andrzej Lepper, accused of corruption. There is still no significant evidence of accusations against him. Having parted ways with the government, Mr. Lepper remained the leader of the Self-Defense party, part of the ruling coalition, which, after the ruling party of the Kaczynski brothers, Law and Justice (PiS), has the second largest number of ministerial portfolios and local administrative positions. Moreover, the other day Self-Defense merged with the third member of the coalition - the League of Polish Families. The new association “League and Self-Defense” (LiS) in the Sejm (there are 460 deputies in total) has 76 mandates - this is a significant package when making or blocking decisions.

LiS immediately made it clear that he was ready for early elections. The association intensified its criticism of the European policy of the party in power, and also stated its desire to decide the fate of the deployment of American interceptor missiles on Polish territory through a popular referendum, which the Kaczynski brothers ruling the country reject. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, as prime minister and leader of PiS, sent a letter to LiS leaders Andrzej Lepper and Roman Giertych with ultimatum conditions for preserving the coalition, including unquestioning support for the government, opposition to strikes and the fight against corruption. These provisions cannot be called unacceptable, with the exception of one point - the refusal to convene a commission to investigate the legality of the operation of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau (CAB), as a result of which the documents that led to Lepper’s resignation were “fabricated” (according to the combined coalitionists). LiS categorically refuses to put the brakes on the investigation into the TsAB operation and, as a condition for preserving the current parliament, sets the creation of a commission, which, according to the main victim, Lepper, will “reveal cases of violation of the law” by PiS.

In response to conflicts within the coalition, Jaroslaw Kaczynski stated that “PiS already knows what it will do, and public opinion will soon learn the details.” He emphasized that there would be no concessions to LiS. The prime minister explained his restraint in announcing the decision because three days of national mourning for the Polish pilgrims who died in a car accident in France ended yesterday. It is expected that everything will be announced in the coming days in a special speech by the prime minister on television.

Mourning did not prevent the Kaczynski brothers from making subtle but very important personnel changes. Elzbieta Jakubiak, one of the most trusted people of Head of State Lech Kaczynski, has left the post of head of the presidential administration. She becomes directly subordinate to Jaroslaw Kaczynski as Minister of Sports with the powers of coordinator of preparations for the European Football Championship in 2012, which was organized by Poland together with Ukraine. The administration was headed by Maciej Lopiński, who, with the rank of minister, was actually the president's press secretary. Instead, Michal Kamiński, until recently a member of the European Parliament and one of the main organizers of the successful PiS campaign in the previous parliamentary elections, will raise the president’s fallen rating and prepare public opinion for his re-election for a new term in the role of the new press secretary. Kaminski began his PR campaign immediately after his appointment, declaring that Lech Kaczynski was the “best president” of Poland over the past 18 years. He promised to convince public opinion of this by telling “the truth about the hard work of the president and his staff.”

Valery MASTEROV, staff correspondent for Moscow News in Warsaw, for Vremya Novostei