Donald Tusk expected to become Poland’s prime minister this week
Shaun Walker
Donald Tusk is expected to become Poland’s prime minister this week, almost two months after a parliamentary election handed a majority to an alliance of opposition parties. His appointment will put an end to eight years of rule by the nationalist, populist Law and Justice (PiS) party.
The Tusk-led alliance won a clear majority of seats in the 15 October vote, but the country’s president, Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally, gave the incumbent prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, the first chance at forming a government, widely seen as a delaying tactic.
Morawiecki must present a new government to the Sejm, Poland’s lower house of parliament, on Monday, which will be followed by a vote of confidence. He is expected to fail. The Sejm then will nominate its own candidate, expected to be Tusk, who will present his government on Tuesday. After intense negotiations between prospective coalition partners, a cabinet has already been agreed.
Parliament will vote on Tusk’s government on Tuesday, and he could take office as soon as Wednesday, potentially enabling him to travel to a summit of EU leaders scheduled to take place on Thursday and Friday.
Read the full story here.
Key events
Morawiecki speaks in parliament
The Polish prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, is delivering a policy speech in the Sejm – despite being set to lose a confidence vote later today.
The outgoing leader said:
I’m sure that the project that I present will be victorious. Even if it won’t be today, it will happen sometime in the future.
Stanley Bill, a professor of Polish studies at the University of Cambridge, said “Poland’s upcoming coalition government will have a wider democratic mandate”.
Nevertheless, he added:
This mandate is diffused by the need for all coalition partners and voters to accept compromise and only partial delivery of their policies, potentially weakening future support for government.
Poland’s upcoming coalition government will have a wider democratic mandate than PiS government of 2019-23, though dispersed across multiple parties. While PiS won 44% of the vote in 2019, the three major groupings making up the coalition won 54% of the vote two months ago. 1/2
— Stanley Bill (@StanleySBill) December 11, 2023
Monday, Monday
“I don’t like Mondays, but I waited eight years for this one,” said Robert Biedroń, a politician from Poland’s New Left.
His colleague Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus wrote: “I like Mondays. Good morning Poland.”
Nie lubię poniedziałków, ale na ten czekałem osiem lat.🥰🍾🥳
— Robert Biedroń (@RobertBiedron) December 11, 2023
Lubię poniedziałki. Dzień dobry Polsko 💪
— J. Scheuring-Wielgus (@JoankaSW) December 11, 2023
Poland needs ‘unity’, Morawiecki says
Mateusz Morawiecki, who is expected to lose a confidence vote in Poland today, stressed in a post on social media that there’s need for unity.
Poland is our common home. Today it needs unity of all political forces. I believe it’s possible.
Polska to nasz wspólny dom. Dziś potrzebuje jedności wszystkich sił politycznych. Wierzę, że to możliwie. O jej przeszłości, przyszłości i wielkości dziś o 10:00 w Sejmie. Do zobaczenia🇵🇱💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/nQcWE0R1DC
— Mateusz Morawiecki (@MorawieckiM) December 11, 2023
Donald Tusk expected to become Poland’s prime minister this week
Shaun Walker
Donald Tusk is expected to become Poland’s prime minister this week, almost two months after a parliamentary election handed a majority to an alliance of opposition parties. His appointment will put an end to eight years of rule by the nationalist, populist Law and Justice (PiS) party.
The Tusk-led alliance won a clear majority of seats in the 15 October vote, but the country’s president, Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally, gave the incumbent prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, the first chance at forming a government, widely seen as a delaying tactic.
Morawiecki must present a new government to the Sejm, Poland’s lower house of parliament, on Monday, which will be followed by a vote of confidence. He is expected to fail. The Sejm then will nominate its own candidate, expected to be Tusk, who will present his government on Tuesday. After intense negotiations between prospective coalition partners, a cabinet has already been agreed.
Parliament will vote on Tusk’s government on Tuesday, and he could take office as soon as Wednesday, potentially enabling him to travel to a summit of EU leaders scheduled to take place on Thursday and Friday.
Read the full story here.
‘Ready, steady, go!’: Tusk gears up to lead Poland
Poland’s next leader shared his enthusiasm on social media this morning, as he prepares to become prime minister nearly two months after the country’s election.
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