Kopacz rejects SLD call for early elections

PM Ewa Kopacz took an axe to her cabinet earlier this week fuelling speculation that she might choose or be obliged to call early elections.

The leftist SLD and United Right (ZP) are the only groupings to call for early elections.

Arkadiusz Mularczyk from the ZP said his party could support an SLD motion.

“PO has lost any social mandate for governing, and the next four months before the election will be see a drowning of the PO-PSL government, and that is a waste of time for Poles,” Mularczyk said.

“The political situation in the country has been uncertain for a long time, but since yesterday we are all witness to obvious destabilisation in the government, in PO,” SLD MP Anna Bańkowska said.

The SLD has 35 MPs in parliament, although recent polls show it at around three percent, two percent below the cut-off for parliamentary entry.

Kopacz rejected the SLD proposal out of hand. “If someone doesn’t see a reason to be in parliament, well let them not hinder those that for the next four months want to work for Poles,” Kopacz said.

“I understand that the SLD has a lot of problems in the polls, but that doesn’t mean that we have to stop working,” government spokesperson Małgorzata Kidawa-Błońska said.

The smaller coalition partner, the Polish People’s Party (PSL), also said it wouldn’t support the SLD proposal.

"SLD is looking for a strong accent to mark the end of its parliamentary existence,” PSL parliamentary club spokesperson Jakub Stefaniak said. (jh)