Leszek Miller announced Feb. 17 that during his party's convention in March, he would resign as leader of the Democratic Left Alliance
Published:
2 March 2004 y., Tuesday
More and more politicians, both the opposition and the left, believe that Miller should also give up his post as prime minister.
Miller listed three reasons for his resignation as head of the SLD. The first was the upcoming campaign for elections to the European Parliament. According to Miller, the head of a party must focus on promoting candidates and become involved in the campaign. The second reason was the situation within SLD, which "requires more aggressiveness from the party and a struggle against inner pathologies." Miller's final motivation involves projects the government has to carry out, Hausner's economic plan first and foremost. Miller claimed they required his maximum concentration and would limit his activities within the SLD.
Miller denied that the real reason behind his decision were SLD's plummeting ratings in opinion polls. The situation of the prime minister is nonetheless influenced by increasingly alarming news from polling centers. A question in one survey asked who would rule in Poland after the elections in 2005. Barely 10 percent of respondents pointed to the SLD, whereas 70 percent said power would be taken over by a different party or a coalition without the SLD.
The four most frequently mentioned candidates for the new leader of the SLD are the party's present deputy chairman Andrzej Celiński, head of the SLD caucus Krzysztof Janik, minister of defense Jerzy Szmajdziński and former deputy minister of labor Jolanta Banach. The final decision will be made at the SLD convention March 6-7.
"What happened to you, what's missing?" Aleksander Kwaśniewski apparently asked at a meeting with the presidium of the SLD's caucus Feb. 18. The president openly asked what had happened since the elections in the autumn of 2001 when the SLD won with 41-percent support. Jerzy Szteliga, a member of the presidium, described the meeting with the president as "mobilizing."
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