Freedom Union withdrawal means the end of the Solidarity coalition and possibly the collape of the government and early election. There are also rumors of a new coalition between Freedom Union and Democratic Left Alliance (ex-communists) - which brings an interesting prospect of a nominally left party embarking on a neo-liberal program. Strange world, indeed.
wojtek
WARSAW, Poland (AP) -- Freedom Union leader Leszek Balcerowicz announced today that his small liberal party was abandoning attempts to save Poland's troubled Solidarity-led coalition after weeks of talks failed to identify an acceptable candidate to replace Prime Minister Jerzy Buzek.
``The Freedom Union governing council considers that its mission of saving the coalition is finished,'' Balcerowicz, the finance minister, said as he emerged from a party meeting. He gave no other details.
The announcement moves the government to the brink of collapse. Without the Freedom Union, Solidarity lacks a majority in the parliament.
Buzek, meanwhile, said he was preparing to form a minority Cabinet to keep the government working, presumably until early parliamentary elections could be called. Elections are not due until autumn of 2001.
Barring a last-minute compromise, the Freedom Union's decision ends efforts to salvage a 2 1/2-year-old coalition beset by disputes over how to push difficult economic reforms through a reluctant parliament.
The pro-market Freedom Union has demanded that Buzek step aside in favor of a candidate better able to rein in dozens of maverick Solidarity lawmakers who have blocked or stalled key reform bills.
Some observers believe the Freedom Union wanted to push the coalition to the brink in the hope that the prospect of new elections, which Solidarity probably would lose, might force maverick lawmakers back into line.
One Solidarity leader, Miroslaw Styczen, said elections could be held in the fall or possibly next spring depending on how well a minority government manages to function.
``We all are aware that a minority government means early elections and the prospect of a defeat,'' he said.
Most recent polls indicate that elections now would be won easily by the Democratic Left Alliance, a cohesive group composed mostly of former communists.
The latest crisis erupted two weeks ago when the Freedom Union tried to pull its five ministers from Buzek's Cabinet. Buzek rejected their resignations and the government has continued to stumble along.
The conflict has delayed important decisions due on next year's budget and undercut the government's pledge to speed up legislation to make Poland's economy and laws fit for European Union membership.
Warsaw hopes to join the economic bloc by 2003, but EU officials have said they do not think Poland will be ready before 2005 at its current pace of preparations.