Poland's ruling coalition is "hanging by a hair" and Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski has until Friday to meet the demands of his junior coalition partner to avoid a collapse, the party's leader said today.
Andrzej Lepper, who heads the Polish Self-Defence party, was sacked from the cabinet earlier this week over a bribery investigation, raising the prospect of early elections in the ex-communist EU member.
Although Lepper withdrew an earlier threat that his party would leave the coalition, he has demanded proof of his wrongdoing as a condition for keeping the government together. He rejects the allegations against him.
"The coalition is definitely hanging by a hair," Lepper told a news conference. Early elections could be held as soon as September if the rural-based leftist party leaves the coalition.
Kaczynski, a conservative who came to power promising a "Moral Revolution", says Lepper's sacking should serve as a warning to all politicians tempted by corruption.
But critics of the prime minister and his twin brother, President Lech Kaczynski, say the move could also help them strengthen their hold on power by weakening Lepper and bringing his supporters into their party's orbit.
"Kaczynski is moving towards absolute and long-lasting power," wrote left-leaning weekly Polityka, accusing him of encouraging "controlled chaos" to undermine rivals.
Poland has enjoyed an economic boom since the Kaczynskis came to power in 2005. But there has been no let-up in political infighting in the country of 38 million. Meanwhile, Poland has repeatedly fought with EU partners under the Eurosceptic twins.
Financial markets have been largely unperturbed by the latest political crisis in central Europe's biggest economy.
Lepper complained he had fallen victim to unfair accusations from the Anti-Corruption Office, which was set up by the Kaczynskis to root out graft. The Office denied allegations of political involvement.
"There will be no exceptions and no privileges for anyone when it comes to fighting corruption," the prime minister told a news conference, while acknowledging that he did not know whether Lepper was "guilty or not."
Political commentators have long suggested that Kaczynski aims to swallow Self-Defence and another minor coalition party, the nationalist League of Polish Families, to create a large, socially conservative and economically leftist party.
The prime minister said today that the best solution to the current crisis would be for Self-Defence to stay in the coalition.
The latest opinion poll gave little incentive for Self-Defence to resign. Taken after Lepper's sacking, it showed the party was backed by just 2 percent of Poles - below the 5 per cent needed to make it to parliament at the next election.
An opinion poll showed the ruling party fell to 17.3 per cent support against 27.6 per cent for the centre-right Civic Platform, the largest opposition party. But the Kaczynskis' effective party machine could prove a big factor at elections.
The latest crisis has overshadowed the government's other troubles, such as weeks of pay protests by health workers and criticism over its handling of a recent European Union summit.