Former regional development minister Grażyna Gęsicka unexpectedly replaced Przemysław Gosiewski as head of the parliamentary caucus of the opposition party Law and Justice (PiS) Jan. 6.

Gęsicka was minister of regional development when Law and Justice governed the country together with its junior coalition partners, the League of Polish Families (LPR) and Samoobrona (Self-Defense) parties in 2005-2007.

Gosiewski, who became caucus head in the autumn of 2005, has now been reassigned to chair the party's "Team for State Work," a think tank that PiS established a few months ago to work out a strategy for the party to regain power after next year's parliamentary elections.

Gosiewski has been one of the most influential politicians in the party for four years and many PiS members and other politicians and commentators were surprised when he stepped down. Some reports suggest that Gosiewski was forced to resign as caucus head by PiS chairman Jarosław Kaczyński and his new job means that he has been sidelined.

Gęsicka said there is no link between Gosiewski's dismissal and the fact he may be summoned to testify before a parliamentary commission investigating a gambling scandal. The commission's members said a few weeks ago that Gosiewski was seen as a key witness in the case because he had been involved in work on a bill to regulate the Polish market for pari-mutuel betting and games of chance. Gosiewski has made no comment on either his involvement in work on the bill or why he stepped down as caucus head.