Polish PM signals new election as pact doubts grow

WARSAW, Mar 6 (Reuters) Polish Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz said today he would seek a snap election if a month-old power-sharing pact failed to allow his minority government to implement its programme.

The conservative Law and Justice party won last September's election on a pledge to weed out corruption, protect the poor and lower the EU's highest unemployment rate, but Marcinkiewicz's cabinet has drifted amid gridlock in parliament.

Last month his party forged a stability pact with two anti-reform, anti-EU groups as an alternative to fresh elections which surveys show would change little.

But the partners are already trading accusations of reneging on the deal and talk of another election has reappeared, though it was not clear if it signalled the conservatives' real intention to hold a fresh poll or was simply a threat.

''If there is no agreement to implement our plans from the stability pact there will be no other solution but to call new elections,'' Marcinkiewicz told public radio.

The next general election is not scheduled until 2009.

The conservatives focus primarily on creating a powerful anti-corruption office, revamping the secret services and forming a special parliamentary inquiry into suspected corruption following the 1989 switch to democracy.

On economic issues, Marcinkiewicz has said he wants to cut taxes and streamline the state budget but such plans have been received coolly by his fringe parliamentary allies.

To force an election, 307 out of 460 lower house deputies must back a motion to dissolve parliament. Law and Justice has 155 seats and may struggle to find this majority.

''In this parliament there is no such majority. We will not back such a motion,'' Grzegorz Schetyna, a leader of the second largest party, the Civic Platform, told Reuters.

Marcinkiewicz can also resign and start a complicated process to replace him, which if failed leads to a snap poll.

Analysts say the return of election rhetoric so soon after the conservatives opted against a snap poll shows they may believe their parliamentary alliance is not sustainable.

''Law and Justice is in a corner,'' said political analyst Radoslaw Markowski. ''Instead of forming a coalition, they sought to grab as much power as possible and stay afloat by playing little political games. This may be a short-sighted strategy.'' REUTERS CH KP2136