PiS caucus leader: there is no reason to dissolve parliament

Terlecki was referring to statements made by Ryszard Petru, the head of the opposition Nowoczesna (Modern) party, who said that if parliament does not continue debating the 2017 budget during the next sitting on 11 January, there will be “no choice but to dissolve the parliament”.

Opposition MPs have been staging a sit-in protest in parliament's plenary hall since 16 December, when PiS MPs and a handful of opposition MPs voted through the budget bill.

The protesting parties have called the vote illegal, while PiS says that both the decision to hold the vote in an ancillary room, and the vote itself were in line with regulations. They have also denied that there is any reason to repeat the vote.

On Wednesday, PiS's Terlecki told the private TVN broadcaster that the request to dissolve parliament is an attempt by the opposition “to generate noise on television”.

“The opposition clearly sees that they have no chance of winning an election, if one were to be called, so in frustration by the fact that there are no other prospects than to remain in opposition until the end of the term, [the opposition parties are] trying to destabilise the situation so as to give the impression that the government is unable to control the situation in the country,” Terlecki said.

He added that these recent events are “a little like an operatic coup”. (rg)

Source: PAP