Polish President Andrzej Duda will swear in opposition leader Donald Tusk as the country’s prime minister on December 13 after the incumbent government failed to secure the parliament’s support, Polish Presidential Chancellery Chief Grazyna Ignaczak-Bandych said on Monday.
Earlier in the day, the Polish lower house, Sejm, voted no confidence in Mateusz Morawiecki’s government in a 266-190 vote. The parliament nominated former President of the European Council Donald Tusk for prime minister shortly later.
“At the invitation of Polish President Andrzej Duda and Sejm’s approval, a meeting with Prime Minister Donald Tusk took place. It has been decided that after receiving the vote of confidence, the new government will be sworn in on Wednesday at 9 a.m. [08:00 GMT] at the presidential palace,” Ignaczak-Bandych wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Tusk is now to propose its own set of the cabinet. Once Tusk’s government is sworn in, he will have two weeks to deliver a keynote speech to the parliament, which will then consider passing a vote of confidence or no confidence in him.
If Tusk receives a vote of no confidence as well, the Polish president will be entitled to choose a new candidate for prime minister himself.
In the parliamentary elections held in October, the PiS party, which until recently was Poland’s ruling, won 194 seats in the 460-member Sejm and claimed victory.
Opposition parties, on the other hand, won over 50% of seats combined and made a coalition agreement, selecting Tusk as their candidate.
