Polish gov't official hopes United Right coalition will last

The head of the Polish prime minister’s office has expressed his hope that the ruling United Right coalition will continue in its current form despite talk of rifts and division within the grouping.

The United Right has experienced a number of internal disputes in recent months, with junior partners at odds with the dominant Law and Justice party over issues such as animal welfare and Europe, prompting speculation that the coalition might collapse.

On Saturday, Solidary Poland, a junior coalition member, rejected a motion for the group's departure from the ruling camp. Although this shored up the United Right, the fact that it felt compelled to vote was seen as further evidence of division.

"I hope that the ruling United Right coalition will continue to exist,” Michał Dworczyk told a Polish public radio broadcaster on Monday. “It has been our strength that we have always been able to settle our disputes and internal tensions by means of dialogue. We are a broad grouping, and it is a natural thing that such disputes and tensions occur."

Solidary Poland's leader and the country's justice minister, Zbigniew Ziobro, said on Saturday that his party would remain in the coalition.

Ziobro made the statement after the Solidary Poland leadership rejected a motion for the group's departure from the ruling coalition in a 12-to-8 vote.

It had been thought that its tough line on the EU budget debate may have prompted it to walk out of the coalition.

Asked about the current situation in the United Right, Dworczyk said that internal matters of the coalition should be debated inside the grouping, and not through the media.

He added that Solidary Poland’s criticism of a new climate deal reached in Brussels, was an example of the right for everyone to “independently make their own decisions and express their views and convictions."

European Union leaders reached a hard-fought deal on Friday to cut the bloc's net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55 percent by the end of the decade. The previous goal envisaged the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent compared to 1990 levels.

"But let me repeat that all disputed matters and all doubts should be settled inside the coalition," Dworczyk said.