Jaroslaw Kaczynski; photo - PAP

Leader of Law and Justice (PiS) Jaroslaw Kaczynski refused to comment today on the formation of a new political association by recently expelled and disaffected members of his party.

“I will not comment on those issues,” Kaczynski said as he was out campaigning in Warsaw for the local elections on Sunday.

When pressed by journalists on why Joanna Kluzik-Rostkowska and Elzbieta Jakubiak were expelled from Law and Justice, Kaczynski said: “I stand by what I said: a political party is a group of people who voluntarily unite to achieve some goals. The first duty of members is to do nothing to the detriment of that party. ”

Asked if he was not afraid that younger members of the party will now leave to join Kluzik-Rostkowska’s new ‘Law and Justice-lite’ association, Kaczynski, the twin brother of the late President Lech Kaczynski, claimed that, “We have a large group of young, competent people who would like to be on the [electoral] lists in 2011.”

Today, Andrzej Rozpłochowski, former Solidarity activist and Law and Justice candidate for the local council in Sosnowiec in Silesia became the latest politician to give his support to the breakaway “Poland is the most important” association.

The new political group formally registered the association in Warsaw this morning. Fifteen politicians are already signed up: Joanna Kluzik-Rostkowska, Paweł Poncyljusz, Michał Kamiński, Tomasz Dudziński, Elżbieta Jakubiak, Jacek Pilch, Ewelina Owczarska, Lena Dąbkowska-Cichocka, Marek Migalski, Adam Bielan, Anna Kamińska, Michał Kaźmiński, Wojciech Kasprowski, Jan Ołdakowski and Paweł Kowal.

Bon voyage

“I wish them luck,” said a smiling Zbigniew Ziobro, thought to be the leader of the ‘hawks’ within Law and Justice, a group which prompted more moderate MPs such as Pawel Poncyljusz to leave the party.

According to Ziobro the ’Poland is the most important’ associations is clearly the start of a new political party, which will position itself between the centre-right Civic Platform and the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD).

In fact,  Ziobro commented, acidly, the new party could even replace the ex-communist SLD as a vehicle for socially liberal politics. “Many of Joanna [Kluzik-Rostkowska‘s] views are taken from the political agenda signed up to by [former SLD prime minister] Leszek Miller,” said the arch anti-leftist.

Jaroslaw Kaczynski said that tomorrow Law and Justice will be holding a press conference on the three years in power of PM Donald Tusk’s Civic Platform. (pg)

source: IAR/PAP/TVN 24