Polish PM fires deputy in scandal
Published: July 10, 2007 at 8:15 AM
WARSAW, Poland, July 10 (UPI) -- Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski fired his deputy, Andrzej Lepper, on Tuesday amid allegations of bribery.
Lepper is the leader of the Self Defense party, a junior coalition member with 46 seats in the 460-seat parliament.
Soon after being fired, Lepper withdrew his party from the coalition, raising the possibility a general election will have to be called two years ahead of schedule, a BBC correspondent reported.
"The aggression of the opposition makes it impossible to have a minority government", Kaczynski told a Warsaw news conference.
Without Lepper's party, Kaczynski can only count on 203 parliamentary votes, short of the 231 required for a majority.
The opposition Democratic Left Alliance later said in a statement it would seek a no-confidence vote to force an early election, the report said.
Lepper is the leader of the Self Defense party, a junior coalition member with 46 seats in the 460-seat parliament.
Soon after being fired, Lepper withdrew his party from the coalition, raising the possibility a general election will have to be called two years ahead of schedule, a BBC correspondent reported.
"The aggression of the opposition makes it impossible to have a minority government", Kaczynski told a Warsaw news conference.
Without Lepper's party, Kaczynski can only count on 203 parliamentary votes, short of the 231 required for a majority.
The opposition Democratic Left Alliance later said in a statement it would seek a no-confidence vote to force an early election, the report said.
© 2007 United Press International. All Rights Reserved.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
This material may not be reproduced, redistributed, or manipulated in any form.
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