PiS hunts for new opposition MPs to remain in power

The conservative ruling nationalist Law and Justice party (PiS, ECR) is trying to rope in newly elected opposition lawmakers to secure a majority in parliament to form a future government after being left without a parliamentary majority following the general election, Polish media report.

The general elections, held on 15 October, left the conservative PiS party without a parliamentary majority, as opposed to the coalition of three pro-EU opposition blocs: the Civic Coalition (KO, EPP/Greens), the centrist Third Way (EPP/Renew) and the Left (S&D). However, despite the election results, PiS, which has ruled the country since 2015, remains hopeful it will retain power.

To secure a majority, it is now trying to persuade newly elected opposition lawmakers to cooperate, Onet reports. “I haven’t had any proposals from PiS yet, but I’ve already heard that there might be some,” said Anna Sobolak, new KO MP, quoted by Gazeta Wyborcza.

There are even some concerns that “PiS would start with enticements and promises, and then it may even use threats,” she stressed, adding that she was strong enough to reject any offer from the ruling party should she receive any.

Interviewed by Gazeta Wyborcza, PiS members who preferred to remain anonymous acknowledged that the efforts to drag opposition MPs to the party’s side may be doomed to failure. “When you spit on someone for so many years, it is normal that they do not want to cooperate with us any more,” one of them said.

However, according to a PiS MEP from Wrocław who wished to remain anonymous, it is rather. the opposition that is managing to attract some PiS deputies – a trend confirmed by the Left’s Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus, who said this was the case for some of the newly-elected PiS MPs.

“Someone gets on a sinking ship and doesn’t want to be there because everyone knows that the democratic majority has won (the elections,” Scheuring-Wielgus told Polsat News.

After last week’s consultations with the parties’ leaders, President Andrzej Duda, who is obliged to appoint the new prime minister, said that there were two candidates for the government’s head: the opposition’s Donald Tusk and PiS’ incumbent Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

However, the opposition does not believe PiS has enough support in parliament to secure a majority.

The media reported that the party was hoping for a coalition with the Polish People’s Party (PSL, EPP), a member of the Third Way bloc. However, PSL leader Władysław Kosiniak Kamysz said his party preferred to work with other opposition parties.

The outcome of the Polish elections was welcomed in Brussels, as the PiS had been at loggerheads with the European Commission over the rule of law during its eight years in power, mainly over controversial judicial reforms that the Commission and the EU Court of Justice said undermined the independence of the country’s judiciary.

(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)