Peasant Party leader Waldemar Pawlak was confirmed Friday as prime minister, replacing Jan Olszewski, whose long-running feud with President Lech Walesa culminated with the release of a list of alleged collaborators with the former secret police.
Pawlak, 32, was approved by Parliament on a 261-149 vote, with seven abstentions.He becomes Poland's youngest prime minister since the country regained its independence after World War I.
Pawlak heads the most powerful of the peasant parties, PSL, which has the fourth strongest parliamentary caucus.
Pawlak, who was formally nominated in the early morning hours by Walesa, seemed to have at- tracted the support of many of the major political parties in the Sejm, or lower house.
"We can form a stable majority coalition," Michal Strak, Pawlak's adviser said earlier.
According to Strak, Pawlak will attempt to form a majority coalition in the Parliament.
The coalition is expected to be composed of the Democratic Union, Liberal Congress, the Party of the Polish Economic Program, Peasant Alliance, Peasant Party and possibly the National Christian Party.
The collapse of Olszewski's government was accelerated by the release of secret lists of high-level politicians' names alleged to be collaborators with the former Communist secret police.