"Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki today asked President Andrzej Duda to dismiss Jarosław Gowin from the posts of deputy prime minister and minister for development, labour and technology," government spokesman Piotr Müller told a news conference on Monday.
Gowin said the conservative Agreement group of which he is leader would exit Poland’s governing right-wing coalition, leaving its future in doubt.
"We are leaving the government with our heads held high," Gowin told reporters on Tuesday evening.
"My resignation means the end of the United Right and the break-up of the coalition," he added.
But Müller said the governing United Right coalition, of which Agreement is part, might be able to retain a majority in parliament even after Gowin's dismissal.
"I am convinced that there will be people in the United Right and in the rest of the Polish parliament who will support the beneficial reforms that we have proposed," he added.
Poland's governing conservatives in May unveiled their flagship Polish New Deal economic programme, which aims to boost the economy after the pandemic, plough more money into public healthcare and education, and give parents extra social benefits.
Gowin's Agreement party, a junior partner in the United Right coalition led by the Law and Justice (PiS) party, has voiced criticism of some of the tax reforms contained in the new programme.
(gs)
Source: PAP