Is the global finance crisis spurring the government, opposition and president to work more closely together?

Prime Minister Donald Tusk is to meet with the opposition Law and Justice party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski today to discuss the finance crisis which is increasingly being felt in Poland, as stock markets and currency tumbles in value.

The meeting is the result of the opposition’s demand that the government undertake talks within the framework of the all-party “Agreement for Economy”. According to Law and Justice, the talks should concern, among other thing, the security of the financial market in Poland, priorities of monetary policy, revenue from privatisation, the implementation of modernisation projects and a new social contract for “hard times”.

PM Donald Tusk declared that during the meeting he will present Kaczynski with a few simple ways which, in his opinion, are likely to protect Poland against the effects of the financial crisis. Tusk mentioned for example an increased surveillance over the state’s finances, greater financial and budgetary discipline, as well as changes within the pension system and a cut in red tape for small businesses.

Donald Tusk and Jaroslaw Kaczynski will also be discussing possible amendments to the constitution which would allow for the introduction of the European single currency in Poland as of 2012, something Jaroslaw Kaczynski is vehemently against..

Tomorrow, Donald Tusk is also to participate in the Cabinet Council, which was summoned by President Lech Kaczynski to discuss the global finance crisis.

A previous Cabinet Council meeting which took place in January to discuss possible reforms to the health care system lasted only 45 minutes and yielded no results, mostly – as observers point out – due to the personal conflict between the president and the PM.

Meanwhile, a possible conflict as to who will represent Poland at the EU summit in Brussels on November 7 is to be avoided, claims the Dziennik daily. If the president decides to take part in the summit  - as he did during the Brussels summit on October 15, 16  - then PM Tusk is to withdraw and stay in Poland, a source told the newspaper. The summit will bring the leaders of the 27 national bloc together to prepare for an international gathering in Washington later in November to discuss the crisis.

President Lech Kaczynski is likely to make up his mind whether to go to Brussels sometime today. The question of who attends international summits has been a constant source of conflict between government and president, with each side claiming it should have influece over foreign policy. (jm/pg)