The political turnaround in Poland is materializing. The ultra-conservative Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, and his current Government fell this Monday after failing to obtain the confidence of the new Parliament that emerged from the elections of October 15, in which several opposition parties allied around the liberal candidate, Donald Tusk, added a majority to the detriment of Law and Justice (PiS), the party in power since 2015.
When various parliamentary and constitutional procedures are completed between Tuesday and Wednesday, Donald Tusk will become the new prime minister at the head of a pro-European cabinet that aspires to repair the eight years of ultra-conservative populist government, full of confrontations with Brussels due to erosion of the judicial system and other violations of the rule of law. Tusk aspires to be inaugurated and sworn in in time to attend the EU summit this week on the 14th and 15th in Brussels.
The Sejm (lower house of the Polish Parliament) rejected Mateusz Morawiecki by 266 votes to 190 in favor. Morawiecki had taken the floor before the chamber to make an allegation of the ultra-conservative policy of the last two legislatures, and to criticize the EU for promoting, in his opinion, “a Europe without homelands instead of a Europe of homelands” within “a process of centralization.”
Despite not having the necessary support, Morawiecki, 55, was able to defend his program before Parliament because on November 13 the president, Andrzej Duda – officially without a party, but originally from PiS – commissioned him to form a government with the argument that it was the force with the most votes, “in accordance with the Constitution and tradition.”
Since Morawiecki did not achieve the confidence of the chamber, the so-called second constitutional step was activated, according to which a group of at least 46 parliamentarians (10% of the seats) designates a new candidate to form the Government. In a vote late on Monday afternoon, Donald Tusk, 66, former prime minister (2007-2014) and former president of the European Council (2014-2019), was designated as a candidate by adding support. Following this appointment, Donald Tusk is expected to present his program and cabinet tomorrow, Tuesday, to the Sejm, which will vote on whether he grants him his confidence to govern. If so, on Wednesday Tusk and his government will be sworn in before President Duda.
In this new Sejm, the PiS has 194 seats out of the 460 that make up the hemicycle, compared to a majority of 248 deputies, belonging to the three allied opposition groups: Civic Coalition (KO), the coalition led 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. The far-right Confederation party – which once made it clear that it would not support PiS – has 18 seats.
“I am happy that Poland is returning to the path of development,” said Lech Walesa, 80, historic leader of the Solidarnosc union and former president of the country, who attended the parliamentary debate. The leader of PiS and true factotum of the outgoing Government, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, spoke of “social misunderstanding” and predicted “the end of democracy” in Poland. “The Poland of my dreams is one without politicians acting in favor of foreign states,” said Kaczynski, 74, who during the election campaign hammered Donald Tusk by presenting him as a puppet of German interests or as a representative of the Russian Putin.
Mateusz Morawiecki presided over a short-lived cabinet for 14 days, the result of President Duda’s commission. This is how the Polish system works; Whoever receives the task of trying to form a government must present a cabinet within the following 14 days – a period that Morawiecki exhausted after being appointed by Duda on November 13 – and then has another 14 days to submit to Parliament’s vote of confidence, a period that Morawiecki also exhausted until the end. However, it has been of no use to him. The eight years of his Law and Justice party (PiS) in power have come to an end.
