Polish coalition thrown in doubt

Andrzej Lepper was deputy prime minister until recently

The future of Poland's governing coalition is in doubt after a junior member, the Self-Defence Party, pulled its ministers out of the cabinet.

The move was announced by party leader Andrzej Lepper, who was sacked in July by PM Jaroslaw Kaczynski after he was accused of corruption.

Despite the row, Self-Defence's two ministers had stayed in the coalition.

Without Self-Defence's support in parliament, the ruling Law and Justice Party will not have a majority.

The Law and Justice Party has 155 MPs, short of the 231 needed for a majority. Self-Defence has 56 MPs. The third partner in the coalition, the League of Polish Families, has 34 MPs.

The Law and Justice Party narrowly won the 2005 general election but has faced difficulties in implementing its economic reform programme.

A dispute over the budget last year also led to Self-Defence quitting the coalition but it was subsequently welcomed back.

Mr Lepper told journalists on Sunday that his party's latest withdrawal from the coalition had been approved in a 61-8 party vote, the Associated Press reports.

He denies any involvement in the corruption scandal over which he was sacked from the cabinet.

It is alleged that millions of dollars were paid in bribes to redesignate agricultural land for commercial use.