The political upheaval in Poland is materializing. The ultra-conservative Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, and his Government fell yesterday after failing to obtain the confidence of the new Parliament that emerged from the October 15 elections, in which several opposition parties allied around the liberal candidate, Donald Tusk, added a majority to the detriment of Law and Justice (PiS), the formation in power since 2015.
When several parliamentary and constitutional procedures are completed between today and Wednesday, Donald Tusk will become the new prime minister at the head of a pro-European cabinet that wants to repair the eight years of ultra-conservative government, fraught with clashes with Brussels due to the erosion of judicial system and other violations of the rule of law. Tusk aspires to be invested and sworn in in time to go to the EU summit this week on the 14th and 15th in Brussels.
The Sejm (Lower Chamber of the Polish Parliament) rejected Mateusz Morawiecki by 266 votes against 190 in favor. Morawiecki had taken the floor before the chamber to make an allegation of the ultra-conservative policy of the last two legislatures, and to criticize the EU for having promoted, in his opinion, "a Europe without homelands instead of a Europe of homelands" within "a process of centralization". Although he did not have the necessary support, Morawiecki, 55, was able to defend his program in front of the Parliament because on November 13 the president, Andrzej Duda – officially without a party, but originally from the PiS– gave him order to form a government with the argument that it was the most voted force, in accordance with the Constitution and tradition.
Since Morawiecki did not win the confidence of the Chamber yesterday, the so-called second constitutional step was activated, according to which a group of at least 46 parliamentarians (10% of the seats) appoints a new candidate to form a government. In a vote late in the afternoon, the nominee was Donald Tusk, 66 years old, who was prime minister (2007-2014) and president of the European Council (2014-2019). After the appointment, Tusk is expected to present his program and cabinet to the Sejm, which will vote on whether to give him the confidence to govern. If that is the case, in principle, Donald Tusk and his government could be sworn in before President Duda on Wednesday.
In this new Sejm, PiS has 194 seats out of the 460 that make up the chamber, with a majority of 248 deputies, belonging to the three allied opposition groups: Civic Coalition (KO), the coalition headed by Tusk's party, Civic Platform (PO); Tercera Via, a coalition of the centrist Christian Democrat Poland 2050 and the Polish People's Party (PSL), heir to the old peasant party, and the leftist Lewica. The far-right Confederation – which last week said it would not support PiS – has 18 seats.
"I am happy that Poland is returning to the path of development," said Lech Walesa, 80, a long-time leader of the Solidarnosc trade union and former president of the country, who attended the parliamentary debate.
The leader of PiS and true factotum of the outgoing Government, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, spoke of "social misunderstanding" and predicted "the end of democracy" in Poland. "The Poland of my dreams is one without politicians who act in favor of foreign states," said Kaczynski, 74, who during the election campaign bashed Donald Tusk by presenting him as a puppet of German interests or as a representative from Russian Vladimir Putin.
The ultra-conservative Mateusz Morawiecki has presided over an ephemeral Government that has lasted fourteen days, the result of the commission of President Andrzej Duda. This is how the Polish system works: whoever is tasked with trying to form a government must present a cabinet within the following fourteen days – a deadline that Morawiecki ran out of after being appointed by Duda on November 13 – and then has another fourteen days to submit to the Parliament's vote of confidence, a term that Morawiecki also exhausted to the end. However, it has been of no use to him. The eight years of his party, Law and Justice (PiS), in power have come to an end.
