Poland's Kaczynskis near majority in parliament-poll

By Staff
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Google Oneindia News

WARSAW, Oct 6 (Reuters) The party of the ruling Kaczynski twins may be close to winning a parliamentary majority in the Polish elections in two weeks, allowing the conservatives to create a one-party cabinet, a poll showed today.

The party of Jaroslaw and Lech Kaczynski, Poland's prime minister and president, is backed by 41 per cent of Poles, according a poll commissioned by the Wprost magazine, a record showing for the party.

The 9-point lead over the main opposition would give the Kaczynskis' Law and Justice party 228 seats in the parliament, just three shy of a majority.

If the Kaczynskis manage to win outright control, their party would be in a position to create Poland's first single-party cabinet with parliamentary majority since it dumped communist rule in 1989.

The centre-right Civic Platform, backed by 32 per cent of those polled, would get 167 seats, with only the post-communist centre leftists also making it into the parliament with 65 seats.

Law and Justice has been climbing in recent polls thanks to an effective campaign centred around an anti-corruption message and a better-than-expected showing by the prime minister in a debate with former President Aleksander Kwasniewski, who heads a centre-left bloc.

Poland's opposition was ahead of Law and Justice when Kaczynski kicked out two fringe parties from his government in August, prompting an early election.

But the Civic Platform has struggled to gain momentum with a lacklustre campaign, their business-friendly proposals overshadowed by a booming economy.

The Kaczynskis, whose party has held power over two turbulent years, also look set to attract voters from their former cabinet partners thanks to a more populist and nationalistic platform.

Another poll today gave Law and Justice slightly lower support at 38 percent, six points ahead of the main opposition.

Even if the twins' party fails to win a majority, it will likely have a strong hand in cabinet negotiations with the Civic Platform or any small party that makes it into parliament.

Markets had been counting on the Civic Platform playing a key role in the next government, either with Law and Justice or the centre left. But the election has so far had little effect on the investor sentiment.

In an article in a local tabloid daily, Civic Platform's leader Donald Tusk, who had earlier ruled out a coalition with Law and Justice, renewed recent calls for a grand coalition to create a Polish ''economic miracle''.

''I'll put away my pride and ambition ... and will extend a hand to people who ruthlessly beat me down,'' Tusk wrote.

REUTERS SKB KP2008

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