Poland's president appoints identical twin brother as new PM

President Lech Kaczynski names his twin Jaroslaw - head of the social conservative party - as head of new Cabinet.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
twins poland 298 ap (photo credit: AP)
twins poland 298 ap
(photo credit: AP)
Poland's President Lech Kaczynski on Monday appointed his identical twin brother, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, as the new prime minister. The president "appointed Jaroslaw Kaczynski as the president of the Council of Ministers," the presidential Web site said, using the formal term for prime minister. The move came earlier than expected; a previous announcement had said the appointment would not take place until Monday evening. Earlier Monday, Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz and his government formally resigned, clearing the way for Jaroslaw Kaczynski to form a new government. Marcinkiewicz resigned in a meeting with President Lech Kaczynski two days after the governing Law and Justice party decided to replace him with Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the party chairman. "I thanked him for his very good governing," Lech Kaczynski said in a brief statement after a 45-minute meeting with Marcinkiewicz at the presidential palace. Marcinkiewicz departed amid reports of disagreements between him and Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who was widely regarded as the power behind the scenes of the outgoing government. The rift had reportedly widened recently over conflicting views of Poland's economic policy. Marcinkiewicz met with his Cabinet for the last time before heading for the president's office to tender his resignation. While Marcinkiewicz is leaving his post, most of his ministers are expected to stay in the new government under Jaroslaw Kaczynski. Kaczynski has said his future Cabinet would continue the pro-social welfare policies of Marcinkiewicz's government. Law and Justice sealed a coalition deal in May with two Euro-skeptic parties - the farm-based Self-Defense and the Roman Catholic League of Polish Families. In one expected change on Sunday, Kaczynski picked Stanislaw Kluza, a pro-market economist who served over the past two months as a deputy finance minister and head of the ministry's research department, to head the Finance Ministry in his future Cabinet. Kaczynski said at a news conference that Kluza would continue the policies of his predecessor, Zyta Gilowska, who - until she resigned two weeks ago - was seen as the key guarantor of fiscal responsibility in Poland's government. Marcinkiewicz will now run as the Law and Justice party's candidate for mayor of Warsaw in fall elections.