POLAND: Poland's election winners ruled out the possibility of a coalition with their chief rivals yesterday, amid fears that parliamentary fighting may stymie vital reform.
Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the conservative Law and Justice party (PiS), rejected last-minute overtures from Jan Rokita, deputy head of Civic Platform, the pro-business party which had vowed to overhaul Poland's creaking economy if it won power.
Mr Rokita suggested that Civic Platform would consider joining a coalition - giving the new PiS-led government a majority in parliament - if it made concessions.
But the pugnacious Mr Kaczynski, whose identical twin brother Lech has just been elected Poland's new president, was unmoved.
"I would like to see this . . . as a hand extended in our direction," he said.
"But Rokita knows that all possible moves have been made. It's the Platform's move, there's no doubt about it."
The exchange took place after Civic Platform leader Donald Tusk rejected a request from PiS to sign an agreement on the 2006 budget and other key issues, which analysts fear may fall prey to parliamentary battles between the rival parties.
Mr Tusk, who backs state spending cuts, adoption of the euro and more job flexibility as ways to fight Poland's 18 per cent unemployment, says he could not work with the populist Self Defence party which opposes those policies, but has already offered to help the government win a parliamentary confidence vote next week.
The leader of Self Defence, Andrzej Lepper, raised the stakes yesterday by making clear he wanted a strong say in government decisions if he backed it in the vote.
"We are open to co-operation, and if we were to share the responsibility, then we want to share power," said Mr Lepper, who has edged towards the political mainstream after opposing Poland's EU entry and staging violent anti-reform protests in the 1990s.
Mr Tusk was expected to announce Civic Platform's decision to go into opposition late last night.
"We have shown enough patience," said Zbigniew Chlebowski, the Platform's economic spokesman.
"The differences in programmes are still vast and the fate of this cabinet will be decided by Andrzej Lepper."
