The Citizens’ Coalition and its partners won a majority in the Polish election. But President Duda first wants to talk to the right-wing nationalist PiS about forming a new government.
Poland’s President Andrzej Duda begins the first consultations to form a new government more than a week after the parliamentary elections. Today, Duda will first meet leading representatives of the national-conservative PiS, which has been in power since 2015 and to whom he is close. The PiS became the strongest force, but only won 194 out of 460 seats. It is considered highly unlikely that she will achieve a parliamentary majority with other partners.
Duda will also receive the liberal-conservative citizens’ coalition today. The citizens’ coalition led by former head of government Donald Tusk and its two possible coalition partners – the center alliance Third Way and the Left – would together have 248 parliamentary seats.
“Never been so happy about second place”
Observers expect that Duda will initially appoint a PiS representative to form a government. If the PiS does not succeed in this, Tusk is likely to be appointed head of government by parliament. He held this position from 2007 to 2014.
The former Prime Minister and former EU Council President Tusk had already expressed optimism on Sunday evening after the publication of forecasts that he would emerge as the actual winner of the election. “I have never been so happy about second place. Poland has won, democracy has won, that is the end of the PiS government,” he said on Sunday.