POLAND: Poland's prime minister has said that the country will go back to the ballot box if the new conservative government fails to form a strong coalition in parliament.
Fresh elections increasingly appear to be the only way out of deadlock for an administration that took power just two months ago, but which has been unable to forge an alliance with its liberal rivals and fears a tie-up with more radical populist parties.
The new vote could come as soon as April if the ruling Law and Justice party (PiS) cannot push its budget through parliament before a February 1st deadline.
Prime minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz said yesterday: "The government is trying to gain a majority in parliament. If we fail, then early polls will be inevitable, but this is to our advantage because our policies have public support," alluding to strong results for the conservatives in opinion polls.
Recent surveys have varied widely in their findings, with some giving PiS a double-digit lead over the liberal reformers of Civic Platform (PO), but one major poll this week placing them just two percentage points ahead of their main rivals.
Coalition talks between the two parties collapsed in acrimony after PiS won both its close battles in this autumn's elections for a new parliament and president.
Senior PO members accused PiS of freezing them out of agreed cabinet posts and being ambivalent about market-orientated reforms aimed at rejuvenating a sluggish economy, cutting 18 per cent unemployment and preparing Poland to adopt the euro.
That fallout rattled markets already wary of PiS's lavish election promises and left the new government to cobble together a parliamentary majority with the left-wing Self Defence party and the nationalist League of Polish Families. Their anti-reform, anti-euro views make PiS reluctant to rely on them for support.
"Politicians are trying to shift responsibility for failed coalition talks and parliamentary gridlock to each other," said analyst Andrzej Rychard. "It's not clear if Law and Justice [ PiS], which is clearly pulling the strings, can win this game."
After cancelling talks earlier this week, President Lech Kaczynski was expected to meet PO officials last night to discuss the prospect of early elections. The conservatives were also scheduled to start talks with the fringe parties, but analysts said they looked doomed before they began, with Self-Defence leader Andrzej Lepper travelling abroad rather than attending the meeting.
