Coalition talks may start when president names candidate for new PM: gov’t spokesman
Wesprzyj naszą pracę na Go Fund Me. Dziękujemy!Poland’s ruling conservatives Law and Justice (PiS) are ready to enter talks on a new coalition government as soon as President Andrzej Duda tasks the current Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki with forming a new cabinet, the government spokesman has said.
Polish government spokesman Piotr Müller.PAP/Leszek Szymański
Piotr Müller made the statement in a media interview on Monday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The government spokesman was asked by public broadcaster TVP Info whether Law and Justice had launched talks with other political groups about forming a new coalition government, in the wake of parliamentary elections held on October 15.
Müller replied that “official talks may start when the president entrusts Mateusz Morawiecki with forming the government.”
He added that some opposition MPs “oppose mandatory European integration and the Left’s ideas when it comes to worldview issues.”
The government spokesman added that “there are politicians in every group,” from the liberal Civic Coalition (KO) to the far-right Confederation, “who agree with Law and Justice on a lot of policy issues”, the PAP news agency reported.
Meanwhile, Dariusz Wieczorek, an MP with the Left, told Radio Plus that on Monday the leaders of his party, the Civic Coalition and the centre-right Third Way alliance, would hold “another meeting on the formation of a new government.”
Wieczorek added that the three opposition groups were also in the process of thrashing out “a coalition agreement covering 20 key policy areas,” including women’s rights.
Last week, President Andrzej Duda held talks with political groupings who had won seats in the new parliament (Law and Justice, Civic Coalition, the Third Way, the Left and the Confederation) on the formation of a new government.
Afterwards, the head of state said two groups had claimed to have the backing of a parliamentary majority and a candidate for a new prime minister.
Namely, the ruling United Right alliance (led by Law and Justice) had nominated the current Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, while the Civic Coalition, the Third Way and the Left had jointly named the former Prime Minister and European Council President Donald Tusk as their prime ministerial candidate.
Duda also announced that he would convene the first session of the country’s newly elected parliament on November 13.
Ruling party, opposition clash on 2024 budget
Meanwhile, Ryszard Petru, a newly elected MP with the Third Way, told private broadcaster TVN 24 on Monday that the president would entrust the mission of forming the new government to Morawiecki, “to delay the takeover of power by the opposition.”
Petru added that the president, an ally of Law and Justice, would take the step because the ruling party needed time “to cover its tracks and distribute some money” to the public before leaving office.
Also on Monday, Petru told the Rzeczpospolita newspaper that Poland’s public debt had reached PLN 700 billion (EUR 157 billion), while “economic growth is almost zero.”
He added that “Poland needs to be redirected to the path of growth.”
The government spokesman replied in the TVP Info interview that the projected 2024 budget included all the flagship social programmes such as the 800Plus children’s allowance and cash boosts for seniors.
Müller added that the opposition would claim that public finances were in a bad state “to avoid having to deliver on their election pledges,” such as pay rises for teachers, and to privatise state assets, the PAP news agency reported.
Poland’s government in August approved the country’s budget for 2024, which expects the economy to grow 3 percent, with inflation targeted at 6.6 percent.
The country’s budget deficit is expected to be no more than PLN 164.4 billion (EUR 36.8 billion, USD 40 billion) next year, and the target for the general government deficit is 4.5 percent of GDP, state news agency PAP reported.
Government revenue is expected to total PLN 683.6 billion in 2024, with spending set at PLN 848 billion.
Poland elects new parliament
The ruling conservatives won Poland’s October 15 election, but lost their parliamentary majority, increasing the likelihood of an opposition government.
The Law and Justice party, allied with two smaller groupings in a United Right coalition, claimed 35.4 percent of the vote and 194 seats in elections to the lower house of parliament.
Meanwhile, the largest opposition bloc, the Civic Coalition, led by Tusk’s Civic Platform (PO) party, won 30.7 percent of the vote and 157 seats.
The centre-right opposition Third Way alliance finished third at the ballot box with 14.4 percent of the vote and 65 seats, and the opposition New Left party finished fourth with 8.6 percent and 26 seats.
The far-right Confederation group, with 7.2 percent of the vote, also crossed the 5-percent voter support threshold that Polish parties need to clear to enter parliament. It secured 18 lower-house seats.
The Civic Coalition, the Third Way and the New Left together hold 248 seats in the 460-seat lower house and have declared their intention to form a coalition government.
In addition to seizing control of the lower house, the opposition won 66 senatorial seats, while the ruling conservatives secured 34 seats in the upper house of Poland’s bicameral parliament.
Under the Polish constitution, the new parliament must convene for the first time within 30 days of the election.
The president then has 14 days to nominate a candidate for prime minister. Once named, the nominee has 14 days to secure a vote of confidence from lawmakers. If this attempt is unsuccessful, parliament then selects its own nominee for prime minister.
(pm/)
Source: IAR, PAP, TVN24.pl, rp.pl
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