Polish government wins confidence vote after presidential election setback
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s pro-European government won a vote of confidence in parliament on Wednesday, reaffirming its mandate after a recent setback in the presidential election.
Donald Tusk in parliament on Wednesday.Photo: PAP/Rafał Guz
A total of 243 MPs backed the government’s continued hold on power, while 210 lawmakers opposed and none abstained during the vote in the lower house, where an alliance of pro-European parties led by Tusk has a comfortable majority.
Earlier in the day, Tusk delivered a major policy speech outlining his government’s priorities for the next two-and-a-half years.
Tusk last week told his ministers that the confidence vote would serve as a „new beginning” for the government after the conservative opposition retained control of the presidency.
Centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski from Tusk’s Civic Coalition narrowly lost the June 1 presidential runoff to conservative candidate Karol Nawrocki, raising questions about the government’s ability to push through its pro-EU agenda.
Nawrocki, a Euroskeptic inspired by US President Donald Trump, won the runoff with 50.89 percent of the vote to Trzaskowski’s 49.11 percent, according to final results from the National Electoral Commission.
Tusk’s government was formed in 2023 after a bloc of parties led by his centrist-liberal Civic Coalition (KO) stormed to power with a strong showing in the parliamentary elections earlier that year.
Tusk previously served as Poland’s prime minister from 2007 to 2014 before becoming president of the European Council, a role he held until 2019.
Poland’s next parliamentary elections will take place in 2027.
(gs)
Source: IAR, PAP, TVN24
