Junior coalition party leader announced as deputy PM and economy minister

Janusz Piechocinski: photo - PAP/Rafał Guz

“Mr Piechociński is to adopt the positions of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and the relevant letter is to be sent to [President Komorowski] today,” Prime Minister Donald Tusk said at a press conference.

The announcement comes after Waldemar Pawlak – deputy prime minister and economy minister since 2007 – suffered a shock defeat in the Polish Peasants Party (PSL) leadership elections two weeks ago.

Pawlak immediately resigned his two posts in the centre-right Civic Platform/PSL coalition cabinet.

"After a long discussion [the Polish Peasants Party leadership] has accepted this solution, which was thought to be the most natural from the very beginning,” Janusz Piechocinski said after taking both the deputy PM and economy ministry jobs.

Piechocinski and Prime Minister Donald Tusk met for three hours last night and for half an hour Tuesday lunchtime, to resolve the issue of whether the new PSL leader could take up the deputy prime minister's role but find another politician to lead the economy ministry.

PM Tusk is reported to have resisted this idea, saying on Monday that a “minister cannot be in government and be responsible for nothing”.

The rural-based PSL is thought to have favoured not overloading Piechocinski with three jobs – deputy PM, economy minister and leader of the party.

As part of the agreement between the two governing parties, PSL has control of three ministries: labour, economy and agriculture.

PM Tusk said today that this arrangement will stay in place and PSL had not requested the terms of the coalition agreement be re-negotiated.

But with the 52 year-old Piechocinski, a former economics graduate, taking up both the posts vacated by Waldemar Pawlak, the government has avoided the need to have four politicians from PSL in the cabinet.

PM Tusk said that a more extensive cabinet re-shuffle would take place next year. (pg)