Zbigniew Ziobro (R) and Solidarity Poland MP Tadeusz Cymanski: photo - PAP/Jakub Kaminski
United Poland has now prepared the application for a vote of no confidence, following on from the party's pledge in late January after the European Commission blocked 3.5 billion zloty (837.7 million euro) of funding for Polish roads, amid allegations concerning a price-fixing cartel.
However, party leader Zbigniew Ziobro has given Prime Minister Donald Tusk the opportunity to carry out three demands so as to avert the action.
Firstly, the government would have to immediately pay all outstanding wages for subcontractors involved in Polish motorway-building projects.
“Enough time has passed and a situation where an employee does not receive fair remuneration for their work from the state cannot be tolerated,” stressed a statement released on the party's official web site.
The lower house of Poland's parliament passed a bill in June 2012 that allowed for unpaid subcontractors on motorway-building projects to be paid by the state, if the chief contractor failed to do so.
Secondly, the party has demanded lower wages for board members of Polish State Railways (PKP), claiming that 59,000 zloty per month (14,000 euro) is an excessive salary.
Finally, Ziobro has given Transport Minister Slawomir Nowak one month to implement ant-corruption procedures concerning road construction, as “Poland does not deserve to be the laughing stock of Europe.”
However, from the outset, the government claimed that as Polish authorities themselves had uncovered the alleged price-fixing cartel, this demonstrated that mechanisms to combat corruption were working.
United Poland has collected 70 signatures from opposition MPs in support of a vote of no confidence.
However, whether Ziobro will still be able to push through a vote of no confidence remains to be seen.
Following talks in Brussels earlier this month, the government pledged that funds would be unblocked by the EC, and a majority of MPs voted to accept the government's standpoint. (nh)