Former, leftist prime minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz has won government support as candidate for the post of Secretary General of the Council of Europe (photo - insidecentraleurope.com).
“He is a person of great experience and international respect and recognition,” says Bronislaw Komorowski, Speaker of Parliament and member of the ruling Civic Platform party.
Support for Senator Cimoszewicz is noteworthy as the post-Solidarity government is supporting a former member of the post-communist Democratic Left Alliance (SLD).
According to Komorowski, however, in such cases the crucial factors to be taken into consideration are knowledge, experience and the chance of succeeding, and not political outlook or alliance. “Poland should support politicians from different backgrounds in getting high posts, because it’s good for our country,” as the speaker of Parliament told reporters.
Head of the Prime Minister’s Chancellery Slawomir Nowak told Polish Radio this morning that Cimoszewicz’s candidacy is proof of the ruling coalition’s ability to rise above political divisions. ‘Poland should give Europe the best of its people’, he said, adding that there is a need to use people on account of their competence and abilities, irrespective of the political labels attached to them.
Fifty nine year-old Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz served as prime minister in the Democratic Left Alliance government of the late 1990s. He has also served as justice minister and foreign minister and returned to parliament as senator in 2007 as an independant.
The position of Secretary General of the Council of Europe becomes vacant in June.
Meanwhile, the government has confirmed that former foreign minister Anna Fotyga has been nominated for the post of Poland’s ambassador to the United Nations.
“It is true that I have proposed Anna Fatyga’s candidature for the post,” said Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski. He added that the candidature is supported by President Kaczynski, a close colleague of Fotyga.
Government support for Fotyga stems from a deal between President Kaczynski and Prime Minister Tusk, whereby the head of state will give his blessing to Minister Sikorski’s bid to become the new Secretary General of NATO, a post which will become vacant in April. (pg/un)