After the presidential election: Poland Parliament speaks to Tusk’s government trust

Poland Proeuropean Prime Minister Donald Tusk can breathe a sigh of relief: his center-left government has survived a vote in parliament. After a more than six hours of debate, a majority of 243 of the 453 MPs presented Tusk’s cabinet to trust, but 210 parliamentarians voted. However, the vote does not change the fact that a directional dispute between the new President Karol Nawrocki and the government, which will also affect Germany and Europe, will have an impact in Poland.

The right -wing conservative Karol Nawrocki won the presidential election on June 1st against the candidate from the Tusk camp. The independent Nawrocki is supported by the opposition PIS. He has already announced that Tusk can adjust to “hard resistance” from the presidential palace. In Poland, the President can block new laws with a veto.

Tusk had set the vote of trust because he wanted to make sure that all coalition partners are behind him in his heterogeneous alliance. “I ask for a vote of trust because I have the conviction, faith and certainty that we have the mandate to rule and take full responsibility for what is happening in Poland,” said Tusk in his government declaration. Government will certainly be more difficult, but this is no reason for him to surrender.

PIS boycotted government declaration

The PIS MPs made it clear that the signs are confronted: During Tusk’s government declaration, most of them were demonstratively not present in the plenary hall. “We don’t want to take part in Tusk’s PR campaign,” said PIS parliamentary group leader Mariusz Blaszczak.

In the subsequent question time, the PiS MPs so often addressed Tusk’s alleged hawk to Germany that he at some point called out from the speaker: “You can also have an obsession with other nationalities treated!”

Tusk takes stock of his government work

In his speech, Tusk took a balance sheet of the work of his government to date and a half. He emphasized that his country was economically excellent. The inflation, which was very high during PIS times, is under control. Poland records the highest value within the EU with 3.7 percent economic growth. Unemployment is the lowest within the community of states.

The head of government also emphasized that the border with Belarus, which is also an EU’s outer border, had succeeded in further attaching to stop irregular migration. EU funds were raised for this. Poland and the EU accuse the Belarusian ruler Alexander Lukashenko to target people from crisis regions to the Polish eastern border.

Tusk: Poland again in the extra class of world politics

The 68-year-old Tusk also referred to the foreign policy success. “Poland has returned to the top class of world politics,” said Tusk. He referred to the friendship and cooperation agreement recently signed with France, which also provides for assistance in defense issues. The relationship with the United States is also in great and “highest level,” said Tusk. Poland is a close military and political ally of the Ukraine attacked by Russia and has an important function as a logistical hub for military aid from the West.

Tusk announced that in July he would be revising his cabinet. “There will certainly be new faces.” A government spokesman should also ensure that politics is better communicated. After the defeat of Tusk’s political colleague Rafal Trzaskowski in the presidential election, the government’s inadequate information policy had been criticized many times. It was also said that Tusk was too hesitant on many topics, for example in the liberalization of the right of abortion promised in the election campaign.

President can slow down with his Vetomacht government

There is also little progress in the most important project by Tusk’s government: The former EU Council President had started to reverse the damage to the rule of law, which triggered the PIS government, which will be in office from 2015 to 2023, with its judicial reform. However, the incumbent President Andrzej Duda, who comes from the ranks of the PIS, has so far blocked all corresponding draft laws.

It is already emerging: Nawrocki, who will take up his office on August 6, will proceed with even greater hardness. The 42-year-old received his doctorate, who has a past as an amateur boxer and bouncer, owes his ascent to the mighty PiS boss Jaroslaw Kaczynski, a political arch enemy of Tusk. The future head of state said last week that he was not afraid of Tusk and would react to any provocation “hard and decided”.