POLAND: The Civic Platform officially nominates Donald Tusk as its candidate for prime minister

The man expected to be Poland's next prime minister urged President Lech Kaczynski on Tuesday (October 23) to help form a new government quickly and said one of his first tasks would be to improve relations with Russia. The Platform defeated the ruling Law and Justice party of the president and his twin brother, Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, in a parliamentary election on Sunday in the European Union's biggest former communist country. "I requested from the Civic Platform's leadership a nomination for the post of prime minister and my request has been granted. So we, the PO party will start preparations and will try to quickly create a new cabinet," Tusk told reporters. "Of course this can only happen after certain constitutional steps have been taken," he added. Under the constitution, the president has two weeks to nominate a prime minister after the new parliament meets for the first time on November 5. The candidate usually comes from the biggest party. Tusk said he would be ready to present his cabinet's lineup by mid-November if the president did not delay his nomination. Kaczynski's spokesman said the president would not interfere in the process of forming the next government, as some commentators had suggested he might, but would retain an active role in shaping foreign relations and defence matters. Tusk also said he would try to repair strained relations with Russia, make Poland a key player in the European Union and strengthen ties with Washington, the Kaczynskis' main foreign ally. "I would personally, if the chance is given, like to put great efforts into repairing the relations between Poland and Russia and Poland and Germany because they have been strained over the last few years. I think that the future of Poland relies upon its relations with its neighbours." Poland's relations with Russia worsened under the Kaczynskis because of squabbles over U.S. plans to put "missile shield" installations in Poland, energy issues and a Russian ban on Polish meat imports.

ITN Source | October 24, 2007

Tags:. .efforts. .active. .process. .prime. .biggest