Leftist politicians have decided to help the governing coalition to overthrow the presidential veto on the early retirement bill by referring it to the Constitutional Tribunal.

President Lech Kaczynski vetoed the bill earlier this month on the grounds that it was unfair to certain groups of workers who would be deprived of the right to take early retirement, which up till now includes some one million workers. The government wants to cut that number by one fourth.

The president’s objection to the bill is shared by the largest opposition party in Poland, Law and Justice (PiS) led by the his twin brother, Jaroslaw. To overturn a presidential veto in parliament, the government needs a two-third majority, something it is being denied by PiS.

The Left Democratic Alliance (SLD) has opposed the bill, as well, but now wants to work with the government to resolve the conflict.

“[Our party] has made an important decision. We still believe that the bill has many shortcomings: that there was no social dialogue and there was no dialogue in parliament,” said leader of SLD, Grzegorz Napieralski.

“We weren’t given a choice. But we have decided to fight for worker’s rights in a different way. We demand a clear stance from the Constitutional Tribunal, we want the bill to be extended to additional professional groups.”

The future of the bill is now to be decided in parliament, today. The Left has imposed party discipline on any vote, but allowed three exceptions.

The limited support for the bill from the Left is being praised by the government, while the opposition Law and Justice strongly criticizes it: “This is a good, responsible decision,” said head of the Civic Platform parliamentary caucus, Zbigniew Chlebowski. “This is simply haggling and back peddling,” believes head of Law and Justice club Przemyslaw Gosiewski. (pg/jm)

Source: PAP