Poland’s influential PiS leader returns to government

Jarosław Kaczyński, leader of the Polish ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party and former prime minister, will return to the government as deputy prime minister, government spokesman Piotr Müller confirmed.

It is the second time that Kaczyński has joined the government since PiS came to power in 2015. Between 2020 and 2022, he served as deputy prime minister and head of the government’s security committee.

“This time, his role will be different. He is going to coordinate the whole government’s work,” State Assets Minister Sasin told the state radio Trójka. He added that Kaczyński will now be the only deputy prime minister.

This means that all the ministers that exercised this function until now, namely Sasin, but also Culture Minister Piotr Gliński, Defence Minister Mariusz Błaszczak and former agriculture minister Henryk Kowalczyk, have to resign.

Kaczyński served as Prime Minister from 2006 to 2007 under the previous PiS government.

Still, he is widely considered to be in sole charge of the government’s operation, prompting some media to call him Poland’s de facto leader.

Kaczyński’s rejoining the government comes just months before the autumn’s parliamentary elections, in which the PiS-led conservative coalition may secure a third consecutive term in power.

“Significant changes have taken place in the government’s composition, which guarantees the effective implementation of our plan to build a rich and secure future for Poland,” Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wrote on Facebook, welcoming Kaczyński “back in the prime minister’s office.”

However, such decisions are meant to show that Kaczyński controls the situation and the power and is not afraid of the elections, opposition centrist Civic Platform’s (PO) MP Grzegorz Schetyna told Polsat News.

“The boss of his subordinate became his subordinate again,” tweeted centrist Poland 2050 party leader Szymon Hołownia, referring to the relationship between Morawiecki as the prime minister and Kaczyński as his party’s leader.

He added that Kaczyński’s presence in the government would not solve any problem of the Polish people but would create many new ones, completely paralysing the cabinet.

Kaczyński is known for his conservative views, scepticism about the EU’s role and opposition towards LGBT rights, especially those of the transgender community.

PiS enjoys the support of 34.4% of the Polish people, which gives the party high chance to win the incoming elections, according to a new poll by the Pollster Institute for Super Express tabloid.

The Civic Coalition, an alliance gathering PO and small centrist and liberal parties, is supported by 30.7% of the voters, the poll shows.

(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | EURACTIV.pl)