Poland’s new government: Spit and polish

Marcinkiewicz's ring of confidence

A prime minister who is worryingly dependent on populist parties

SOMETIMES there are strong governments, sometimes there are sensible ones - but never both, and often neither. That has been Poland's fate since the collapse of communism in 1989, and it looks like continuing after a political deal this week that produced a muddled-sounding minority government, dependent on two dodgy and eccentric populist parties. It is tedious for Poles who are exasperated by their bickering and ineffective politicians; and tiresome for those who would like the biggest of the countries that joined the European Union in May 2004 to be governed properly.

The new prime minister is Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz of Law and Justice, a moralistic centre-right party that won both the recent parliamentary and presidential elections. Having spurned its free-market ally, Civic Platform, Law and Justice presented a programme to parliament on November 10th tweaked to win support from Self Defence, a populist party that speaks for losers in the economic upheaval of the past 15 years, and the League of Polish Families, a right-wing group linked to an ultra-Catholic radio station, with a youth wing that flirts with anti-Semitism.

Mr Marcinkiewicz was set to win a vote of confidence as The Economist went to press, promising an end to weeks of wobbles that have sent the Polish currency, the zloty, tumbling. The zloty's troubles reflect aftershocks from the surprise election results. Few had expected Law and Justice to win or govern on its own: its role looked more likely to be one of providing moral ballast for a government led by its arrogant but brainier partner, Civic Platform.

Law and Justice has some strong points, such as a commitment to efficiency and fairness. The new justice minister says he wants Polish courts to work 18-hour days until they clear a massive backlog of unheard cases. Radek Sikorski, the Oxford-educated defence minister, plans internet auctions for defence procurement contracts. There will be a new, high-powered anti-corruption body to investigate what many Poles see as the festering mess left by botched privatisations and a crony-run state bureaucracy.

Another, much-trumpeted aim is to clean up Poland's intelligence services, which are mostly bloated, corrupt and of questionable loyalty. That reflects the intense personal interest of Law and Justice's two leading lights, the twin brothers Lech and Jaroslaw Kaczynski. The first is now president. The second, who is the more dominant, is nominally party leader, but widely seen as the real power in the land.

The Kaczynskis' virtues include integrity, determination and patriotism. But they are not known for vision, leadership, or a well-informed approach to world affairs. Much the same can be said of the new prime minister. For outsiders used to dealing with the savvy, English-speaking figures of the previous left-wing regime, such as the outgoing president Aleksander Kwasniewski, the new lot, largely monoglot and provincial in outlook, may prove a shock.

That is one minus. Another is the deal with the populists. Buying off the League of Polish Families with higher child benefits may be defensible; it is harder to justify backing Andrzej Lepper, the demagogic leader of Self Defence, as deputy speaker of parliament, while opposing a former communist-era political prisoner for a similar position in the upper house, the Senate. "The moral revolution proved very relative," sniffs Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz, a former central-bank chief who is now a leading light in Civic Platform.

It is not clear what else might be needed to satisfy Mr Lepper, who is wavering in his support. An avowed foe of "economic liberalism", he wants higher social payments (doable, if ill-advised), and a renegotiation of Poland's membership of the EU (impossible). The new finance minister, Teresa Lubinska, exemplified the government's uncertain touch last week by blithely dismissing foreign hypermarkets as unwelcome investors, and boasting of her work in local government to frustrate their expansion. This week she sought to repair the damage, saying that "all foreign investment is welcome in Poland" - but adding that the government favoured those that "contribute to sustainable economic growth". The government has also pledged not to reform Poland's job-killing and bureaucratic labour code.

A friendly economic environment may help the government up its learning curve. Thanks to the previous government's tax reforms and the delayed effects of joining the EU, growth is picking up. It should reach 4% by the end of the year. Tax receipts are rising too, shrinking the budget deficit. That creates some room for manoeuvre. Mis-steps aside, the government could have an easy ride until its populist backers demand real payoffs in next year's budget. And then? Perhaps Law and Justice will belatedly team up with Civic Platform. That would please a lot of people, at home and abroad.

Feature looks at the new Polish Government lead by the Law and Justice Party (with the support of two smaller minority parties) under Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz.