As if the news wasn’t already gray enough as it is, here’s a bit of Polish politics to cheer you up. Please be aware that on the Warsaw side, the leader of the victorious opposition in the October 15 elections called on the Head of State on Tuesday to “quickly” entrust him with the mission of forming the new government.
“Poles expect rapid decisions. We are ready (…) to work at any time,” declared the candidate for the position of head of a coalition government, Donald Tusk, as the consultations of the President of the Republic Andrzej Duda begin with all the parliamentary parties.
The populist party first in the elections but not in the majority
Although it came first in the elections, the populist nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party will only have 194 seats out of 460, with no prospect of a majority coalition. The Civic Coalition (KO, center), led by Donald Tusk, former president of the European Council, and its potential allies, the Third Way (Christian Democrats) and the New Left, together obtained 248 seats in Parliament, an absolute majority .
As part of the post-electoral consultations, the Head of State must meet on Tuesday, in turn, representatives of the PiS and the KO, then on Wednesday those of the last two parties, as well as officials of the Confederation (extreme right ).
Donald Tusk Prime Minister?
“Today and tomorrow we will all indicate to the president our candidate for the post of prime minister – the head of the Civic Platform (part of the KO) Donald Tusk – and ensure that he has the required majority for the post. to do, as well as to elect the presidents of the two parliamentary chambers,” said Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, president of the PSL peasant party, a member of the Third Way.
Donald Tusk, who is already planning a visit to Brussels, Wednesday and Thursday, in order to begin an overhaul of relations between Poland and the EU, met on Tuesday the leaders of all the opposition parties . In addition to Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, these included Szymon Holownia, leader of the Poland 2050 party, also a member of the Third Way, and Wlodzimierz Czarzasty, leader of the New Left.
According to some analysts, initially, Andrzej Duda, from and close to the PiS, will task a representative of this party with forming a government, even if this mission seems doomed to failure. If the PiS’s inability to find a majority is confirmed, it is Parliament which will appoint a Prime Minister, and in this case it will most likely be Donald Tusk, who has already exercised this function in the past.