Minister of Labor and Social Policy Jolanta Fedak from the Polish Peasants' Party (PSL), Infrastructure Minister Cezary Grabarczyk of the PM's Civic Platform (PO) party, and Minister of Environment Maciej Nowicki, an independent, are all expected to get the ax, according to the paper.
The reasons cited for the anticipated dismissals vary. For example, Fedak supposedly has not displayed enough hard work and performed poorly during negotiations with trade unions, while Grabarczyk would not lose his post due to the slow pace in road construction, but rather because of negligence concerning the railway sector. Nowicki is accused of allowing disarray in his ministry.
It has been widely speculated that the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy might be headed by Michał Boni, who is currently Secretary of State in the Prime Minister's Chancellery, while the Ministry of the Environment could find a new head from PSL. It is less clear who would replace Grabarczyk as infrastructure minister.
According to Artur Wołek, a political expert and associate professor at Tischner European University in Kraków, it is hard to estimate the reliability of such reports and speculation about the changes in the Cabinet as they may well be part of negotiations between the two governing parties, PSL and PO
While personnel changes in the Cabinet could be positively received by the public, the move could also prove risky since the government still has high poll ratings, Wołek said.
"The government has adopted the image of friendly buddies representing a united front, and such radical measures need to be carefully prepared," he concluded.
