Independent candidate Andrzej Olechowski (right) has challenged the leading candidates in the presidential elections to a TV debate.

Olechowski has sent invitations to Civic Platform’s Bronislaw Komorowski, Law and Justice’s Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the Democratic Left Alliance’s Grzegorz Napieralski and Polish Peasants Party’s Waldemar Pawlak.  

Earlier this month both Komorowski and Kaczynski said they were willing to take part in public debates.

In an interview for Polish Radio Andrzej Olechowski presented his views on the presidency. Olechowski, a co-founder of Civic Platform but who left, formally, last year,  said that even though he had cut himself off from the ruling party for good, it does not mean that as president he would  not cooperate with the government. “There should be an agreement between the Chancellery of the President and prime minister,” said Olechowski. 

The issue of ‘cohabitation’ between head of state and head of government has been a recurrent theme in the campaign after difficult relations between the coalition led by Civic Platform and the late president, Lech Kaczynski, who vetoed many of the government’s bills.

On foreign policy, Olechowski told Polish Radio that it is crucial for Poland to have good relations with both Germany and Russia.

“A choice of which of its neighbours Poland should fraternize with has been frequently a cause of failure in the history of the Polish nation. Fortunately, today we don’t have to choose between Germany and Russia but to cooperate with both,” said Olechowski.  

The former finance minister also stresses the importance of supporting the economy and raising a pro-business awareness among Poles. “If you want to be a patriot, you should grow rich, because then your motherland will also become richer,” says Olechowski. (mg/pg) 

Source: IAR