The liberal pro-European Donald Tusk, new Prime Minister of Poland by adding support for the Parliament’s vote of confidence arising from the October 15 elections, comes to power with the clear desire to mend his country’s very deteriorated relations with the EU. after eight years of the outgoing ultra-conservative and populist Government, and dismantling many of its laws. In Warsaw, the Sejm (lower house of Parliament) gave its confidence to Tusk on Tuesday night by 248 votes in favor and 201 against.
In the speech defending his program, before the vote, Donald Tusk promised to restore the rule of law, facilitate women’s access to abortion, return Poland to the European and international stage, and support Ukraine in the war against Russian invader. “The new coalition guarantees that we will return to the place that Poland deserves,” Tusk said.
The confidence vote was delayed until the evening because more than 245 deputies asked to speak and because a far-right parliamentarian used a fire extinguisher to extinguish the chandelier lit in Parliament for the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. After the ratification, he is expected to be sworn in before the president, Andrzej Duda, along with the 26 ministers of his cabinet this Wednesday.
Donald Tusk, 66, thus returns to power in his country, of which he was already prime minister between 2007 and 2014. He was then president of the European Council (2014-2019). Back at the helm in Poland, he will participate in the European summit on Thursday and Friday in Brussels.
“We are stronger and more sovereign not only when Poland is stronger, but also when the European Union is stronger,” declared Donald Tusk, a phrase light years away from the postulates of the previous Government of Mateusz Morawiecki, who on Monday in his attempt failed to be ratified by Parliament accused the EU of promoting “a Europe without homelands instead of a Europe of homelands.”
Tusk promised that his Justice Minister, Adam Bodnar, would work to “quickly and absolutely restore the rule of law,” whose poor state of affairs has caused discord between Warsaw and Brussels, including blocking as a warning more than €35 billion for Poland from EU recovery funds. “Yes, I will bring these long-awaited billions from Brussels,” assured the new prime minister.
Tusk promised that, with his government, “Poland will be a strong ally of NATO and the United States” and at the same time “will regain its leadership position in the European Union.” He also called for “the total mobilization of the free world, of the Western world, to help Ukraine win this war; no alternative”.
The new Government has big plans and generates many expectations in Europe, but the populist nationalists of Law and Justice (PiS) will be a powerful opposition with their 194 seats and they continue to control several institutions. Analysts speak of “a web woven in the State by the PiS”, all the more solid given that the presidential term of Andrezj Duda – officially a man without a party, but coming from the PiS and who has done everything possible to delay the inauguration of Tusk – does not end until 2025. And in certain cases, the president has the right to veto laws approved by Parliament. The cohabitation of Tusk and Duda appears tense and complex.
The heterogeneous coalition that supports Donald Tusk has a majority of 248 deputies out of the 460 that make up Parliament, belonging to three groups: Civic Coalition (KO), the coalition headed by Tusk’s party, Civic Platform (PO) ; Third Way – coalition of the centrist Christian Democrat Poland 2050 and the Polish People’s Party (PSL), heir to the old peasant party; and the leftist Lewica. Tusk admitted that this alliance contains “very different parties with different points of view,” ranging from the left to the center-right.
