Poland's prospects for a new government
In Poland, where parliamentary elections were just held, the nation has spoken with a clear message: 'out with the left and in with the right'. But the big question now is how to put together a new government. The conservatives, the true winners of the general election, upset the liberals (their future coalition partners) by picking a little-known former chief of parliament's treasury committee as candidate for prime minister. What's more, the leaders of both parties are in the race for the presidency - the nation goes to the polls for that election next Sunday.
This university graduate, who didn't want to name the party she voted for, told me that taking part in the elections was something obvious to her. The pessimists that she referred to - decided to stay at home. The miserable 40 percent turnout is proof that Poland's young democracy is yet to mature. Those who did cast their votes have clearly opted for a change of direction. A new government inevitably brings new hopes and a mood of optimism. Marcin Sobczyk of the Warsaw Independent news service describes this as a breath of fresh air.
"I think that we will, of course, have a breath of fresh air. We will see a different government. They'll be able to have their say as to the taxes, as to the public finance sector, as to many matters. The outgoing government is a lame duck and has been a lame duck for a year. This is a breath of fresh air in the sense that we will again have a government that will be able to flex its legislative muscle."
"The most important focus of the campaigns of both Civic Platform and Law and Justice parties was on changing the way politics is done in Poland and reforming the Polish State to make it closer and more trustworthy by the citizens. And here both the promises of changes, such as even constitutional changes, go deepest. However, two other important areas, such as foreign policy and social economic policy - here I would say that the mandate for changes is rather limited."
The two victorious centre-right parties - the conservative Law and Justice and the liberal Civic Platform - have a comfortable majority in the Parliament. The key question now is how they will be able to work out a compromise. Even though they are both rooted in the Solidarity movement and agree that cutting corruption is a top priority for Poland, their programmes differ quite substantially. Civic Platform promises tax cuts and more flexible labour laws to create more jobs. The cornerstone of its policy - the 15 percent flat rate tax scheme - is strongly attacked by Law and Justice which combines the conservative principles with such left-wing tenets are tax breaks and state aid for the underprivileged, and government intervention in the economy.
Most politicians of the two parties are confident, however, that a compromise will be achieved. Radek Sikorski, who's been elected to the Senate on the Law and Justice ticket in the northern town of Bydgoszcz, describes the programmes of the two parties as compatible...
"Law and Justice is a party that was formed in protest against corruption that engulfed Poland under the outgoing government. And you need a clean government; you need honest officials if you want to have a working free market. So, I think Law and Justice and Civic Platform are two sides of the same coin - on the one hand economic freedom and market economy, but on the other hand, the States' regulating with strict and honest rules the operations of the market."
Over the past few days, representatives of the two winning parties have been busy talking about a future government and campaigning in the presidential race. In a curious twist of political fortunes, the frontrunners in the presidential elections on October 9 are the leaders of these two parties.
