Polish PiS to take oath despite no majority

11 months ago 47

Appointed for another term as Poland’s prime minister by President Andrzej Duda, Mateusz Morawiecki will take the oath with his minority government on Monday, a presidential official confirmed, meaning the likely PiS government risks losing a vote of confidence in parliament.

The conservative Law and Justice party (PiS, ECR), which has governed Poland since 2015, won the October elections but failed to win a parliamentary majority. It has also failed to persuade other parties to form a coalition, which means it is unlikely to win a vote of confidence in parliament.

But Morawiecki has not yet given up.

“He is fighting (to stay in power); he himself says that his chances are not big, but there are some chances,” said Wojciech Kolarski from the president’s office, adding that Morawiecki “deserves respect for such (a persistent) attitude.”

“Who doesn’t fight doesn’t win,” he added.

Even if Morawiecki is persistent, the numbers suggest that the PiS will lose power after eight years. The new parliamentary majority has already shown its unwillingness to vote for PiS candidates by rejecting former speaker Elżbieta Witek’s candidacy for deputy speaker of the Sejm, the lower house of parliament.

As a result, it is more than likely that parliament will also reject Morawiecki’s government. If the PiS cabinet fails to win a vote of confidence, the next step will be for parliament to take the initiative and elect a government.

This is likely to result in the formation of a government led by Donald Tusk and consisting of three opposition blocs: Tusk’s Civic Coalition (KO, EPP/S&D), the centrist Third Way (Renew/EPP) and the Left (S&D/Left).

Days after the election, Tusk visited Brussels and promised that his government would mean Poland’s return to the decision-making core of the EU.

Still, Euractiv recently suggested that a Tusk-led Poland may not be “a paradise Brussels is hoping for,” given that his position on numerous key portfolios, including the migration pact, is not that different from that of PiS, whose government was often accused of obstructing votings together with Hungary.

Last week, Tusk announced he opposes the EU’s recent report on the proposed EU Treaty changes, warning MEPs against falling into naïve “Euroenthusiasm,” which he says is among the reasons for Brexit.

(Aleksandra Krzysztoszek | Euractiv.pl)