Poland’s PiS to likely lose confidence vote, paving way for second Tusk government

Lacking seats to form a coalition government, the currently governing Law and Justice (PiS) party will almost certainly lose Monday’s confidence vote in parliament and pave the way for a new cabinet of former European Council President Donald Tusk.

Appointed by President Andrzej Duda, PiS’ Mateusz Morawiecki will deliver his government’s programme speech on Monday. However, as PiS lacks a majority in the new parliament, his chances of winning a vote of confidence are illusionary.

Should Morawiecki fail to win the bid, the parliament will vote on the new majority’s candidate, Donald Tusk, with his government consisting of three blocs, his Civic Coalition (KO, EPP/S&D), centrist Third Way (Renew/EPP) and the Left (S&D/Left).

During its eight-year rule, PiS and the European Commission butted heads, particularly over Poland’s judicial reform push the Commission found to go against the rule of law.

Tusk served as prime minister of Poland for almost two terms, between 2007 and 2014, before taking up his post as president of the European Council, which he held until 2019.

Tusk has promised to bring Poland “back to Europe” by reversing the most controversial changes, including changes to the judiciary that the EU Court of Justice ruled illegal or turning public media into what the opposition called the ruling party’s propaganda tool.

Team Tusk will also hold PiS members accountable for some of their decisions, such as the postal presidential elections in 2020, which cost the state some 70 million zlotys (over €16 million) but were never held following opposition from parliament.

Even if he does not win the parliamentary vote, Morawiecki will remain prime minister until Tusk is officially appointed by the president, which could take a few days.

Under the Polish constitution, the president cannot reject the government chosen by parliament if his own candidate fails to win a vote of confidence.

For the first time in history, a group of people who managed to reserve their seats in advance will be able to watch Monday’s parliamentary session in the cinema, an event organised by the Kinoteka cinema in Warsaw’s Palace of Culture and Science.

Kinoteka’s offer reflects a new phenomenon in Polish society, with a rapidly growing interest in the work of the parliament, which some have dubbed “Sejmflix” about the Sejm, the lower house of the Polish parliament, and the popular Netflix streaming platform.

Among the reasons why parliament has become the new entertainment for Poles is the new, charismatic speaker, Szymon Hołownia, but also the emotional statements made by MPs and the frequent disputes between the parties.

(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)