Polish PM-designate urges opposition to back new gov’t
Wesprzyj naszą pracę na Go Fund Me. Dziękujemy!Poland’s conservative prime minister-designate has appealed to the country’s opposition parties to back his new Cabinet, saying it could deliver their proposals in areas such as social policy, healthcare and education.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki (first from right) talks to reporters in Warsaw on Monday, November 20, 2023.X/Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland
Mateusz Morawiecki made the declaration at a news conference in Warsaw on Monday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Polish President Andrzej Duda last week named Morawiecki, who has led Poland’s government since 2017, as prime minister-designate, tasking him with forming a new Cabinet, following last month’s parliamentary election.
Under the constitution, Morawiecki has until November 27 to unveil his new government.
Morawiecki said on Monday that the new government would „deliver the policy initiatives proposed by opposition parties,” including the Left, the rural-based Polish People’s Party (PSL) and the centre-right Poland 2050 group.
He called on opposition MPs to back his new Cabinet.
The prime minister-designate mentioned policies such as seniority pensions, new services for seniors, boosting education spending to 6 percent of GDP and science spending to 2 percent of GDP, among other plans, the PAP news agency reported.
Morawiecki also renewed the pledge that the new Cabinet would extend the zero VAT rate on food, adding that energy prices would be frozen to mitigate costs of living for households, according to private broadcaster Polsat News.
The prime minister-designate said that this week he would officially invite the leaders of other parliamentary groups for talks on the formation of a new Cabinet, the PAP news agency reported.
Meanwhile, Donald Tusk, a former top European Union official and the leader of Poland’s largest opposition bloc, the liberal Civic Coalition (KO), has already chosen most candidates for ministerial roles in his future Cabinet, according to the Rzeczpospolita newspaper.
Poles elected a new set of 460 MPs and 100 senators when they went to the ballot box last month.
Morawiecki’s ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party won Poland’s October 15 election, but lost its parliamentary majority and looks unlikely to stay in power for a third consecutive term.
A bloc of pro-EU opposition parties last week secured a resounding victory in Poland’s new parliament during its first key vote to elect a house Speaker.
On November 10, Poland’s pro-European opposition groups, the Civic Coalition, PSL, Poland 2050 and the Left, signed an agreement to form a coalition government, pledging to restore the rule of law, promote green energy and relax abortion rules, among other policies.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, Polsat News
