Polish party threatens early polls in 2007

WARSAW, Sep 13 (Reuters) The leader of Poland's leftist Self-Defence party, Andrzej Lepper, said today his party was likely to oppose next year's budget, a move that could trigger early elections in 2007.

''This budget will not include our demands which were agreed with the coalition partners...So there will be no coalition and we will have elections in spring next year,'' Lepper, who is also deputy prime minister and agriculture minister, told the radio station TOK FM.

Lepper, who has repeatedly criticised the draft budget and threatened to leave the coalition, said he might still stay on if the ruling Law and Justice party agreed to add more social spending to the 2007 budget plan.

He added, however, that it was unlikely.

The government has given preliminary approval to a 2007 budget draft with a budget gap of 30 billion zlotys (.59 billion) and Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said he would stick to the deficit limit even if coalition partners demanded higher spending.

Lepper, who wants more spending on agriculture, health care and education, said he could not back such a budget.

A Law and Justice leader said on Wednesday he hoped Lepper would drop his threats and avoid early polls.

''Of course, if Lepper wants to have early elections, he will have early elections but I hope the coalition will last until the end of the term,'' Przemyslaw Gosiewski told the television channel TVN24.

Lepper said he did not expect the announced return of former Finance Minister Zyta Gilowska to the cabinet to change the situation.

Kaczynski said late yesterday that Gilowska would return to the post of deputy prime minister and finance minister next week, after a court cleared her of charges that she had spied for the communist secret services.

REUTERS PDM MIR KP1340