On Monday evening, the Seimas elected the leader of the centrist alliance as prime minister. 248 MPs voted for it, 201 were against and no one abstained. After a short speech by D. Tusk, all legislators stood up and sang the national anthem.
On Tuesday, Tusk will address MPs, present his cabinet and initiate a vote of confidence in his new government. He is expected to win this vote as he has the support of the majority of the 460 members of the Polish Seimas.
Finally, the country’s president Andrzej Duda will swear in D. Tusk and his government. It is scheduled to be done on Wednesday.
The lower house of parliament, which is controlled by Tusk’s centrists, rejected the new cabinet proposed by Mateusz Morawiecki earlier on Monday. 190 deputies supported M. Morawiecki’s government, 266 were against it.
“It’s a great day for everyone who has firmly believed all these years that things will get better, that we will dispel the darkness,” Tusk told parliament.
“From tomorrow (Tuesday), we will be able to correct all the mistakes so that everyone feels at home in Poland,” added the political veteran, who served as prime minister from 2007 to 2014.
His opponent, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, head of the right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party, shot back and accused Tusk of being a German agent, a claim he has repeatedly made.
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen (Urzula von der Lajen) congratulated D. Tusk on the X social network.
“Your experience and strong determination to uphold European values will be valuable in building a stronger Europe for the benefit of the Polish people,” she said.
In October’s general election, the Conservatives won the most seats, but were left without viable coalition partners.
Only 190 lawmakers voted in Monday’s vote of confidence in Morawiecki’s right-wing government, with 266 against.
Tusk’s liberal Civic Coalition bloc came second in the election, but together with two smaller parties, the centrist Third Way and the Left Party, secured a majority of 248 lawmakers.
The trio ran on promises to mend strained ties with the European Union and pursue liberal reforms.
Tusk’s cabinet could be sworn in on Wednesday so that he, as the new prime minister, could travel to Brussels for an EU summit on Thursday and Friday.
Mr Tusk has promised to unblock billions of euros in EU aid that has been frozen due to long-standing tensions between Brussels and the outgoing government.
Tusk also said he would restore Poland’s credibility in the EU and give it an important voice in the ongoing war in neighboring Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed Tusk’s election and called on him to maintain the unity of Kyiv and Warsaw.
“The future of Ukraine and Poland is unity, mutual aid and strategic partnership to defeat our common enemy,” he wrote on the X social network. “I am sure that Ukraine and Poland will remain committed to defending world freedom.”
Huge expectations
There are high expectations associated with the new government, but PiS representatives, who are called populists, will remain very influential and have appointed their allies to the most important posts.
Political analyst Jaroslaw Kuisz told the AFP news agency that the future government will have to fight PiS on a daily basis, which he says will continue to fight.
“There will be no miracles,” he said.
According to him, “it will be like walking through mud” and rapid changes will be difficult because PiS has left a “judicial minefield”.
Controversial judicial reforms and appointments, which the EU says undermine democratic values, have been at the heart of tensions between PiS ministers and Brussels.
PiS still has allies in the presidency, the central bank and the supreme court, as well as several important judicial and financial state institutions.
She also dominates the state-owned media organizations, which have become government mouthpieces under her rule.
Analysts are talking about the spider web that PiS has woven into powerful posts, giving allies powers that will last through the term of the new government.
Polish President Duda, an ally of the outgoing government, is due to leave office before the 2025 presidential election, but until then he can use blocking tactics and veto legislation.
The head of state revealed his intentions by appointing Morawiecki to try to form a government and giving PiS two more months in power.
Analyst J. Kuisz said that the party used the time for institutional and financial strengthening.
PiS appointed two former ministers to lead important state financial institutions and elected new prosecutors.
The president also approved 150 new judges appointed by an institution criticized by the EU for excessive PiS influence.
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2024-08-11 23:25:07
