Bronislaw Komorowski of the ruling Civic Platform told Polish Radio this morning that his party cannot exclude forming a parliamentary alliance with the leftist Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) if President Kaczynski continues to act as a “tool of the opposition” and vetoes governmental bills.
“From my point of view there is nothing wrong with such a coalition,” Komorowski, Speaker of the lower house of parliament, the Sejm, said. “The more so as since [opposition party] Law and Justice entered into a coalition with the Self-defence party [in the previous government] everyone can feel absolved when it comes to political aesthetics,” he added.
The move risks alienating some of Civic Platform’s supporters as the SLD is a post-communist party, traditional enemies of post-Solidarity parties such as Komorowski’s.
President Lech Kaczynski - twin brother of leader of Law and Justice, Jaroslaw - has frustrated the government since they came to power a year ago by refusing sign key legislation, so bringing the law making process to stalemate on some issues.
“If the president continues to be a tool of Law and Justice and veto all the most important bills, such as pension scheme reform or health care system reform, only to please his brother’s party, we won’t have any other choice,” Komorowski stressed.
According to the Speaker of the Sejm, Civic Platform will need to come to an arrangement with the Left in order to overthrow presidential vetos. He admitted that it is the president’s right to exercise the veto, but added that “currently there is a whole series of vetoes, which don’t seem to be substantively justified.”
“Presidential decisions mean that the ruling coalition will need to take into greater account the point of view of the left-wing opposition. This is a simple calculation,” Komorowski explained.
In November, President Kaczynski refused to sign as many as eight bills, including three of the six bills making up the health care reform package. (jm/pg)