Donald Tusk becomes Prime Minister of Poland

The Sejm (the lower house of the Polish parliament) elected Donald Tusk as the new Prime Minister and granted him a vote of confidence. Tomorrow, along with his ministers, Tusk will be sworn in by President Andrzej Duda. Tusk becomes Prime Minister for the third time, having previously led the government from 2007-2014. Earlier, the Sejm did not grant a vote of confidence to the government of Mateusz Morawiecki, whom the President had designated and appointed as Prime Minister. MM will now fight to take over the leadership of PiS after Jaros?aw Kaczyński, who is nearing political retirement.

Koalicja Obywatelska (the Civic Coalition led by Donald Tusk; EPP/RE/Greens/EFA) appointed 16 people (including PDT) of the 27 members of the new government:

• 7 from Trzecia Droga (the Third Way; the coalition of two center parties – Poland 2050 and PSL; RE/EPP) - 4 from PSL, three from Poland 2050
• 4 are from the Nowa Lewica (the New Left; a social-democratic party; S&D)
• Among the ministers, there are 9 women, 3 of whom are ministers in the Prime Minister's Chancellery.
• The 27th member of the government and the 9th woman will be Prof. Marzena Czarnecka from the University of Silesia, who will lead the Ministry of Industry after its separation from the Ministry of State Assets.

The core of the government consists of politicians close to Tusk:

• Borys Budka, the head of the Koalicja Obywatelska, is the Minister of State Assets, responsible for State Treasury companies;
• Marcin Kierwiński, the General Secretary of Platforma Obywatelska (Civic Platform, centre-right liberal party, part of the Civic Coalition), is the Minister of the Interior and Administration;
• Bart?omiej Sienkiewicz, a close associate of Tusk, is the Minister of Culture;
• Rados?aw Sikorski, who served as head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2007-2014, is the Minister of Foreign Affairs;
• Tomasz Siemoniak, the Deputy Leader of PO, is the Minister-Coordinator of SpeciaL Services;
• Izabela Leszczyna, the Deputy Leader of PO, is the Minister of Health (a sign of loyalty to PDT as no one wanted to take on this challenging department);
• Jan Grabiec, the spokesman for PO, is the Head of the Prime Minister's Chancellery;
• Andrzej Domański, a co-creator of the PO's economic program, is the Minister of Finance;
• Adam Sz?apka, closely cooperating with Tusk and the head of the Nowoczesna party (KO), is the Minister for European Affairs in the Prime Minister's Chancellery;
• The positions of the minister in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, secretary of the Council of Ministers and head of the Government Legislation Center are given to Maciej Berek, who held these positions in 2007-2015;
• W?adys?aw Kosiniak-Kamysz (PSL president), who was a minister in Tusk's government in 2011-2015 and took over the image-difficult pension reform, is the new Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence

Appointing the PSL president as the Minister of National Defence is Tusk's move against PiS (PiS, Law and Justice party, part of the United Right). PSL is potentially the only party with which PiS could try to form a coalition in the future. However, PiS built its image as the only group capable of ensuring Poland's security and modernizing the army. The party will have to attack the new Ministry of National Defence, which wants to review armaments orders made by PiS. Any such criticism will be directed at the head of the MND, weakening PiS's potential ability to reach an agreement with PSL. At the same time, the Minister of National Defence must maintain relations with the president as the commander-in-chief of the Polish Armed Forces – Kosiniak-Kamysz is a politician respected by Andrzej Duda and can be a link between the government and the president.

PSL is the second strongest party in the government, having taken over important economic ministries: the Ministry of Infrastructure, the Ministry of Economic Development and Technology, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development. PSL is in coalition with the Civic Platform for the second time, with both parties co-governing from 2007-2015. In addition to the Ministry of Digital Affairs (taken by Krzysztof Gawkowski, who is well-rated in this field) specified in the coalition agreement, the New Left took over the Ministry of Family and Social Policy, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education and the position of Minister for Equality in the Chancellery of the Prime Minister. Poland 2050 took over the Climate and Environment Ministry, the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy and the position of Minister for Civil Society.

In the case of Koalicja Obywatelska, the ministries are headed by politicians with government experience (Tusk, Budka, Sikorski, Sienkiewicz, Siemoniak). Apart from Prof. Czarnecka, only Adam Bodnar as the Minister of Justice (elected to the Senate with a record support of 630,000 votes) will be ministers-experts.

The formation of the new government ends the honeymoon period of Szymon Ho?ownia as the Marshal of the Sejm. He skillfully used this time to attract attention and strengthen his image. However, from now on, he will have to compete for media attention with the government, especially with Donald Tusk.

For Zjednoczona Prawica (the United Right; a right-wing coalition; ECR) it is now crucial to maintain unity ahead of the local and European elections in the spring 2024. This reduces the possibility of internal reckonings for the electoral defeat and potential splits. Within the United Right, the failed mission to form a government undertaken by Morawiecki is assessed differently. Some point to the poor composition of the presented ministers, indicating a loss of political appeal for PMM within his own camp. Others appreciate his loyalty to Jaros?aw Kaczyński (PiS president), even in a hopeless situation.

Morawiecki now has the opportunity to prove himself in the eyes of long-time activists and for the first time go through the 'lean years' with them. When the right-wing was last in the opposition, he was the president of a major bank in Poland and advised the current Prime Minister Donald Tusk. This still influences his perception by the old PiS activists. Therefore, Jaros?aw Kaczyński defends him from internal attacks with his own authority. The term of the PiS president, according to his announcement, should end in 2025. PMM will want to take over his position, but his political future will depend on the PiS result in the next elections and maintaining the unity of the right-wing coalition.

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