Civic Platform MP Janusz Palikot (right) will not be suspended from the party after his remarks criticising one of the candidates in the primaries to run in this year’s presidential elections.

The Rzeczpospolita newspaper writes today that it has been told, off the record, by one of the members of the committee organising the internal ballot of party members that though Palikot’s remarks that Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski becoming president “would be like the return of a Civic Platform/Law and Justice (PO/PiS) coalition” had harmed the party he will escape punishment.

The two candidates, Sikorski and speaker of the lower house of parliament Bronislaw Komorowski have met with Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who told them, firmly, to refrain from attacking each other or other party members. Both candidates requested, however, that Palikot keep his party membership.

Palikot - deputy chairman of the party - is an ardent supporter of Komorowski. His remarks that Sikorski represented a mixture of Civic Platform and Law and Justice points to his belief that the foreign minister - defence minister in the previous government led by PiS - is the more conservative politician.

Earlier this week, leader of economically liberal Civic Platform in parliament, Grzegorz Schetyna, demanded Palikot be punished for his attack on Sikorski.

"I believe [Palikot] has violated the rules that we have jointly agreed upon, which is a crime against Civic Platform, and we cannot accept this." (pg)