Polish Deputy Prime Minister Andrzej Lepper sacked
{{date|July 10, 2007}}
{{missing image|Image:Andrzej Lepper.jpg|thumb|Andrzej Lepper {{Image source|Błażej Pajda}}}}
{{w|Andrzej Lepper}}, the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, as well as {{w|Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland|Deputy Prime Minister}} of the [[Poland|Republic of Poland]], was sacked on Monday over a corruption investigation.

{{w|Jarosław Kaczyński}}, the current Prime Minister, explained the reasons of dismissal in an interview for public television channel TVP1: 
{{cquote|There are serious reasons to believe they [members of Lepper's party] may have been involved in criminal activities.}}
Kaczyński was referring to two people arrested by the {{w|Central Anticorruption Bureau}} on Friday. One of them, Andrzej R., told the Bureau that he was linked with Lepper. It is widely rumoured that a bribe in the amount of 3 million {{w|Polish złoty|złoty}} was involved. 

Mr. Lepper insist he is innocent, but he also told news-channel TVN24 that the coalition is over. Lepper is the leader of the {{w|Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland]] party, which is the second largest in the government coalition.
{{cquote|I am not going back into this government.}}

The coalition's break-up means that there is no majority in the Polish parliament at the moment. Self-Defence has 46 deputies in the 460-seat Sejm, the lower house of the Parliament. However, it may not mean early elections &ndash; the Opposition has too few votes to dissolve the Parliament.

{{haveyoursay}}
==Related news==
* {{wikinews|title=Poland: Self-Defence to stay on in the governing coalition|date=July 10, 2007}}

== Sources ==
*{{source|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aZ2afTnJl1KU&refer=europe 
    |title=Poland's Coalition May Collapse, Prompting Elections
    |author=Katya Andrusz, Monika Rozlal
    |pub=Bloomberg L.P. 
    |date=July 10, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://www.poland.pl/news/article,Lepper_sacked_over_corruption_allegations,id,284649.htm
    |title=Poland on brink of early elections as corruption charges lead to deputy PM's dismissal
    |author=
    |pub=Poland.pl
    |date=July 10, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6285908.stm
    |title=Poland PM warns of early election
    |author=
    |pub=BBC News Online
    |date=July 10, 2007}}

{{published}}
{{Archived}}

[[Category:Poland]]
[[Category:Europe]]
[[Category:Politics and conflicts]]
[[Category:Jarosław Kaczyński]]

[[pl:Andrzej Lepper odwołany ze stanowiska Ministra Rolnictwa]]
Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland|Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland, was sacked on Monday over a corruption investigation.

, the current Prime Minister, explained the reasons of dismissal in an interview for public television channel TVP1: 

Kaczyński was referring to two people arrested by the Polish złoty|złoty was involved. 

Mr. Lepper insist he is innocent, but he also told news-channel TVN24 that the coalition is over. Lepper is the leader of the
Poland Europe Politics and conflicts Jarosław Kaczyński