This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.

UNCLAS WARSAW 000111 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PL
SUBJECT: BUDGET IS PASSED; ELECTIONS STILL POSSIBLE 
 
REF: WARSAW 76 
 
¶1. Voting well past midnight on January 25, the Polish 
Parliament passed the budget proposed by the ruling Law and 
Justice (PiS) party by a vote of 269 to 180.  Voting was 
protracted owing to 225 proposed amendments, each considered 
and voted individually.  The budget was passed by a 
party-line vote:  PiS, together with the smaller 
parliamentary parties (Self Defense, SO; the League of Polish 
Families, LPR; and the Polish Peasant's Party, PSL), voted in 
favor, while the opposition Civic Platform (PO) and Alliance 
of the Democratic Left (SLD) voted against.  Nearly half of 
the amendments were proposed by PO, and most were rejected. 
Other amendments, like SO's proposed "farmers' bonus," 
passed. 
 
¶2. The passage of the budget does not mean that the threat of 
early elections has passed.  In comments after the votes, PM 
Marcinkiewicz and PiS party chief Jaroslaw Kaczynski both 
said that PiS would need to "fix the budget" in amendments to 
be considered by the Senate on January 30 and 31.  After the 
Senate has its turn, the bill will return to the Sejm for 
reconciliation, past the constitutional deadline for 
completing budgetary action, thus providing President Lech 
Kaczynski the window to dissolve the Parliament and call for 
early elections should he want to (reftel). 
 
¶3. Separately, PiS announced that Jaroslaw Kaczynski would 
hold talks on Friday, January 27 with SO, LPR and PSL on the 
proposed "Stabilization Pact" that PiS has proposed to avoid 
early elections.  With so many moving parts, bets are still 
off on whether PiS will opt for a coalition with these 
smaller parties or go the electoral route. 
ASHE