POLAND:Poland's fractious ruling coalition collapsed for the second and apparently final time last night amid claims of planning corruption, raising the prospect of autumn elections.
Prime minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski fired his deputy, Andrzej Lepper, yesterday evening, suggesting he was involved in a land rezoning scheme involving "large bribes" at the agriculture ministry he heads.
Mr Lepper, leader of the left-wing Self Defence party, denies any involvement and retaliated by pulling out of government on live television with a furious attack on his coalition partner.
"This is the end of the coalition. Dirty games are being played against me," he said to TVN24 news channel. "We are leaving the coalition; we are not going to participate in this kind of government."
Mr Lepper resigned from office once before, after just four months in office, but returned soon after. Yesterday, he said his departure was final and received the backing of his party for bringing down the government.
Mr Kaczynski raised the possibility of an autumn election, saying that a minority government "would be ineffective and would harm Poland greatly".
"We aren't afraid of a dissolution of parliament," he said on live television. "We're ready to stand in new elections and win."
On Sunday, officers of the Central Anti-Corruption Bureau arrested two men who claimed to have contacts within the agriculture ministry who, the men said, would rezone land in exchange for bribes.
Meanwhile, the minister for sport, Tomasz Lipec, of the Kaczynski brothers' Law and Justice (PiS) party, also announced his resignation yesterday along with two of his deputies.
He has been dragged into a separate bribery scandal surrounding the Central Sports Centre, manager of the sports facility where the Irish rugby team is currently training.