Presidential hopeful Tomasz Nałęcz has appealed to other candidates to hold a common debate and present their political programs.

“Let’s discuss the vision of Poland which will connect the people of the left and the centre but without using dirty tricks,” Nałęcz said during a press conference today.

He proposed holding such debates in various parts of the country expressing conviction that centre-leftist candidates could successfully defeat Prime Minister Donald Tusk and President Lech Kaczynski next year.

So far two parties have officially named their candidates: the Democratic Left Alliance chose Jerzy Szmajdzinski, a former defence minister, and the Social Democracy of Poland, which, together with the Democratic Party chose Tomasz Nalecz, who is a historian and former vice-Speaker of the Sejm.

The third independent candidate, former finance and foreign minister Andrzej Olechowski announced his readiness to run yesterday. (di/pg)