Poland's ruling Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) split today to increase the pressure on unpopular Prime Minister Mr Leszek Miller to resign and pave the way for a government revamp.
About 20 of the SLD's 192 parliamentary deputies, led by lower house speaker Mr Marek Borowski, announced they were forming a new party, the Social Democracy of Poland, to offer Poles a new, credible alternative on the left.
The rebels said they could continue supporting the SLD in parliament if their old colleagues dumped Mr Miller and agreed to a cabinet revamp ahead of Poland's European Union entry in May.
Otherwise, the new party said it would support opposition calls for early polls, which could take place together with elections to the European Parliament in June.
The crisis inside the SLD exploded just as Mr Miller attended a European Union summit in Brussels.
Amid growing speculation he will resign as soon as this weekend, at a meeting of the SLD's national council, Mr Miller said he would hold a news conference with the president on his return to Poland later today to discuss the political crisis.