Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk dispelled the reports that he is going to run in next year’s presidential election, stating he is not suited for the role and would be unlikely to win.
Andrzej Duda, nominated twice by the conservative PiS (ECR) party, is set to finish his second term as Poland’s president. Under the Polish constitution, he is unable to seek a third one. This opens the door for the ruling pro-EU coalition to gain full power in the country by having its own president.
Even if nominating a joint candidate could potentially strengthen the coalition’s chances, the parties have decided to run separately, and Tusk announced on Wednesday (23 October) that his Civic Platform (PO, EPP) party would reveal its presidential candidate on 7 December.
“It will be someone who, first, is best suited for the office, second – has the best chance of winning, and third – it won’t be me. Really!” he wrote on X.
Although Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski is the analyst’s favourite to be a PO presidential candidate, many believed that Tusk would decide to run himself.
As PO candidate, in 2005, Tusk lost the presidency in the second round to PiS’ (ECR) Lech Kaczyński, twin brother of the current PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński.
Unmoved by the failure, he led his party to victory in the 2007 parliamentary elections, after which he assumed the prime minister post. Kaczyński, on the other hand, died in a plane crash near Smolensk in 2010.
Since returning to power in Poland after the parliamentary elections one year ago, Tusk has had tough relations with Duda, who, using his veto power, blocked many of the government’s policies.
Last week, Tusk openly accused Duda of staying loyal to his old PiS party despite the interest of the state, saying in his parliamentary speech that Duda “started as the PiS’ president, not the president of the whole nation, and he concludes [his second term] as the president of one party.”
“It was a rational and wise decision of Tusk not to run for president,” Mirosław Oczkoś, political marketing expert and analyst, told Euractiv Poland.
He stressed that in the Polish system, the president has limited prerogatives compared to the prime minister, suggesting that this fact may have influenced Tusk’s decision.
The benefits from being a president are relatively low, he said, and given the bad reputation Tusk has among the considerable part of the society, “it would require from him a lot of effort to change people’s minds.”
Times of strong personalities
While Tusk does not need to be president, the right president is essential for the current government to deliver to its voters.
“The ruling coalition needs the president from its own political camp, who would support its measures, not another one [like Duda] who would undermine its policies and ruin everything,” Oczkoś said.
Foreign minister Radosław Sikorski (PO, EPP) would be the best candidate, according to Oczkoś, due to his personality, experience, international contacts and “the feeling of foreign policy.”
As a tough diplomat with a pretty hawkish view on Russia, Sikorski would prove a better option especially if Donald Trump wins in the US, the expert said.
“Now are the times of strong personalities. Trzaskowski, with his experience, which is different than Sikorski’s, might be good if Kamala Harris wins, but he might not handle Trump,” he concluded.
(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)
Source: euractiv.com
