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Polish president fires deputy
22/09/2006 17:55 - (SA)
Warsaw - Poland's president has fired deputy premier and agriculture minister Andrzej Lepper, the combative leader of a rural-based party that was in the ruling coalition.
The a move could hasten snap elections in the European Union's largest eastern member.
In a ceremony at his presidential palace on Friday, Lech Kaczynski reappointed Zyta Gilowska as finance minister after she was cleared of communist collaboration charges.
The president's identical twin brother, prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, said on Wednesday that he wanted Lepper removed from the government.
He argued he had sown discord and wasted an opportunity to help give Poland a good government.
The premier struck a more conciliatory tone after Friday's dismissal, thanking Lepper for "everything that was good in our co-operation" and expressing regret that it "had to end".
"If in my statement yesterday (Wednesday) I said harsh words, I apologise. They were the result of emotions," said Jaroslaw Kaczynski at the ceremony.
Kaczynski wants new coalition
Television close-ups of Lepper, who was also present, showed him grinding his teeth.
Lepper, a former pig farmer, has often criticised the Polish government. He had been insisting on more spending in the 2007 budget.
Kaczynski's nationalist-conservative Jaw and Justice Party sealed the coalition with Lepper's Self-Defence Party and the smaller Euro-sceptic League of Polish Families in May, giving the alliance a majority in parliament.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski said he was immediately opening talks on forming a new coalition, but warned that if they failed, his ruling party might call early elections.
"We are considering a motion to dissolve the parliament because if there is no majority, then early elections should be held," said Kaczynski, without offering a date.
Gilowska cleared of charges
He could appeal to members of Lepper's party to continue supporting the government without him. Or he could recruit another small party to eke out a majority.
During Friday's ceremony, the premier said that Gilowska, as finance minister, would be an "exceptionally strong point in the government".
Gilowska had stepped down as finance minister in June, after a special state official had charged her with collaborating with the communist-era secret security.
A screening court cleared her of the charges earlier this month, paving the way for her return to government.
With the government in turmoil, she is considered a guarantor of Poland's fiscal discipline.
The ruling party's time in government has been marked by political turmoil. Ministers and the initial prime minister, Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, have been replaced in surprise moves.
The political debate has been increased by the approach of local elections on November 12.
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