Polish prime minister loses vote

WARSAW, Poland - Poland's new prime minister, Marek Belka, lost a parliamentary confidence vote Friday, prolonging uncertainty over free-market reforms but leaving the country's mission in Iraq on track.

The lower house of Parliament voted 262-188 against Belka, appointed prime minister on May 2 after his unpopular predecessor, Leszek Miller, stepped down.

Belka had asked lawmakers Friday to give him a "one-year contract" until elections set for fall of 2005 to pursue economic changes and Poland's role in Iraq, which has broad political backing.

But opposition lawmakers said the governing Democratic Left Alliance, the ex-communist party backing Belka, had lost the legitimacy to govern after the corruption scandals and unpopular spending cuts that led to Miller's demise.

Belka resigned shortly after the vote but was immediately charged by President Aleksander Kwasniewski with leading a caretaker government. While the outcome increased the likelihood of early elections, Kwasniewski said he believed Belka could get Parliament's backing.

"What's important is that this government is still functioning," Kwasniewski said. "Poland has a government, and Poland still has hopes for this government."

"The result was a little better than I expected," said Belka, who fell 38 votes short of the required majority. "I'm an optimist."

Parliament has two weeks to select and vote on a candidate.

The vote raised the prospect of a political vacuum in the largest of the countries that joined the European Union on May 1. But no immediate effect was foreseen on Poland's role in south-central Iraq, where it heads a multinational force including about 2,400 of its troops.

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