The Democratic Left Alliance, SLD, the biggest left wing party and hitherto House majority grouping has kicked off its national convention. The gathering is to elect new authorities as the entire SLD board has resigned from their posts. The official contenders for the top chair are Marek Dyduch – the party’s former secretary general, Jacek Piechota – deputy minister of economy and current agriculture minister Wojciech Olejniczak. The candidature of the latter has come as a surprise, as it was a last minute personal decision.
Opening the debates, outgoing chairman Jozef Oleksy stated the SLD must continue its fight with a returned sense of political potential and electoral support among society. Oleksy stressed that contrary to common belief, the SLD has registered considerable achievement during its four year government rule. However, there is still much to be accomplished, he said, mainly in the sphere of human dignity, equal rights, countering unemployment, tolerance and education. Jozef Oleksy voiced his deep belief that the Democratic Left Alliance is a grouping of honest people capable of getting rid of all those who tarnished its image in the eyes of Polish society. But that shall be a difficult process. Regaining public confidence does not boil down to saying we’re sorry. We can attain that only through our own example, Oleksy concluded.
The outgoing chairman named defence minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski as the best, in his opinion, SLD candidate in the October scheduled presidential elections.
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