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Name of new Polish prime minister to be disclosed today: senior MP

PR dla Zagranicy
Grzegorz Siwicki 07.12.2017 09:45
The name of a new Polish prime minister will be disclosed on Thursday, the deputy Speaker of the lower house of Poland’s parliament has said.
Deputy lower-house Speaker Ryszard Terlecki (left) pictured next to ruling party leader Jarosław Kaczyński (centre) in Poland's parliament. Photo: PAP/Paweł SupernakDeputy lower-house Speaker Ryszard Terlecki (left) pictured next to ruling party leader Jarosław Kaczyński (centre) in Poland's parliament. Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak

Asked about a long-expected Cabinet reshuffle, Ryszard Terlecki, deputy Speaker of the Sejm and head of the parliamentary caucus of Poland's ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, told reporters that the name of the new head of government would “certainly” be made public later in the day.

Asked if, halfway through the government's term in office, the ruling party chief, Jarosław Kaczyński, would replace Beata Szydło as prime minister, Terlecki said this “will transpire around noon.”

Meanwhile, Poland’s PAP news agency reported that President Andrzej Duda would be meeting with Szydło and Kaczyński on Thursday morning to discuss issues including a government reshuffle.

In another highlight, the ruling PiS party was scheduled to hold a strategic meeting of its Political Committee on Thursday afternoon. The meeting was expected to concern planned changes to the government, among other issues.

The meeting of the party’s Political Committee was due to be followed by a gathering of the party’s parliamentary caucus, PAP reported.

Finance Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to become new PM?

The ruling party’s spokeswoman Beata Mazurek has said that “it is not a secret that a proposal has appeared” for Deputy Prime Minister and Finance and Development Minister Mateusz Morawiecki to replace Szydło as prime minister, but she said the definitive decision on the matter “has yet to be made.”

Szydło said in a media interview on Wednesday that next year Poland’s ruling conservatives planned to focus on policies to further improve the economy and ensure even faster growth to consolidate the country’s “historically lowest unemployment, the best results in terms of economic growth in six years, and the best results in terms of public finances.”

Focus on economy

She told Catholic broadcaster Radio Maryja that a “modern economy is something that will give us guarantees of stability and ensure the implementation of new tasks in the years ahead.”

Szydło added that she was keeping her fingers crossed for Morawiecki and for "other ministers responsible for the economy, for the entire government."

The conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party swept to power in October 2015 in a landslide election victory, ending eight years of a government led by its archrival, the Civic Platform, now Poland's largest opposition grouping.

(gs/pk)

Source: IAR, PAP

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