Polish PM sacks coalition partners

WARSAW, Poland (Reuters) -- Poland's Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski sacked ministers from two junior coalition parties on Monday and decided to rule in a minority government ahead of expected early elections in the former communist EU member.

Holding parliamentary elections two years early has become increasingly likely since bitter fighting erupted within the fractious coalition between the ruling Kaczynski twins and volatile leftist and far-right allies.

The prime minister sacked ministers from the nationalist League of Polish Families and rural-based Self-Defense party.

"The change means the coalition has ended," Kaczynski said at the office of President Lech Kaczynski, his twin brother.

Roman Giertych, the deputy prime minister and leader of the League is among the dismissed ministers. The three other ministers were charged with construction, labor and fisheries. New ministers were appointed immediately.

The Kaczynskis have governed during a spell of fast economic growth but have failed to quell constant political infighting and squabbled repeatedly with other European Union leaders.

Their Law and Justice party gave its approval on Saturday for holding early parliamentary elections and the prime minister suggested that they could be held in October or by November at latest.

But an early election is a big gamble for the Kaczynskis, whose party is trailing in opinion polls behind the pro-business opposition Civic Platform, which favors quicker progress towards adopting the euro currency.

Kaczynski made clear that his party is preparing to stay in power after elections and said the newly appointed ministers would contribute to success at the next elections.

"I hope these ministers will work in a way which will allow this government to continue its mission after elections," he said.

Poland tumbled into crisis one month ago when the prime minister fired deputy prime minister Andrzej Lepper, firebrand leader of Self-Defense.

Markets have been little ruffled by the crisis. Some pundits believe early elections could lead to a government more likely to speed up economic reforms.

Parliament reconvenes on Aug. 22 after its summer break and could then vote to dissolve itself ahead of new elections, although the prime minister will still have the chance to pull back before then.

The Civic Platform opposition is keen to hold elections quickly. It recently widened its opinion poll lead to as much as 14 percentage points over the Kaczynskis' Law and Justice.

The Self-Defense and the League of Polish Families, could both struggle to pass the threshold to enter parliament if they go to elections individually, and plan an alliance known as LiS, which means "fox."

The president would not face re-election yet. E-mail to a friend

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