Poland's prime minister named four new ministers to replace Cabinet members who resigned last week over a 2014 eavesdropping scandal.
The new health minister is heart and lung transplant surgeon Marian Zembala; energy expert Andrzej Czerwinski is the new treasury minister; Adam Korol, world and Olympic rowing champion, is the new sports minister; and the new security minister, Marek Biernacki, has served as interior minister and justice minister.
The first three haven't served in politics before. The appointments suggest that Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz wants a fresh start for the government and the ruling Civic Platform party, which was given a warning when former party member Bronislaw Komorowski lost his presidential re-election bid last month.
Kopacz said her Cabinet will work around the clock to regain the trust of Poles. A general election is scheduled for the fall, probably in October.
Earlier Monday, Kopacz met with Komorowski to secure his approval for the new ministers. They will be formally appointed Tuesday morning, just hours before the weekly government session.
Komorowski said last week he wanted to hear from Kopacz whether her coalition government led by her Civic Platform party was stable and could stay in office until the elections.
A few ministers in the government come from the small Polish People's Party.
The resignations of ministers followed the illegal publication of secret files from an investigation into the taping of ministers, but were also seen as government cleansing over Komorowski's electoral loss that exposed dissatisfaction with Civic Platform policies.
