Andrzej Duda convened the talks at the presidential palace on Tuesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
The president first met with politicians from the Law and Justice party, according to officials.
Afterwards, Rafał Bochenek, the party spokesman, described the talks as “a very good, policy-oriented conversation.”
He added that the discussion had focused on “policy priorities and challenges for the next parliament,” such as the war in Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas conflict and planned changes to European Union treaties.
Bochenek said the president "has not yet decided whom to entrust with the mission" to form a new government, "whether Law and Justice or the Civic Coalition" led by former Prime Minister Donald Tusk.
On Tuesday evening, Bochenek told private broadcaster Polsat News that his party was in talks with the opposition Polish People’s Party (PSL), "among other groupings," and so a new majority government led by the ruling conservatives “can’t be ruled out.”
On Tuesday afternoon, the president met with politicians from the Civic Coalition.
Afterwards, Civic Coalition MP Urszula Zielińska said the meeting had been “positive and constructive,” the PAP news agency reported.
She added that the Civic Coalition had urged Duda to convene the new parliament before the November 14 deadline, so that a new government "can deal with the winter, the ongoing war in Ukraine and the energy crisis, among other issues."
Meanwhile, senior Civic Coalition lawmaker Borys Budka told private broadcaster TVN24 that his group had also appealed to the president to entrust the mission of forming the new government to Tusk.
Budka said that Tusk “has been put forward as a prime ministerial candidate by a broad coalition,” also including the Third Way and the New Left, and so "Donald Tusk is the only candidate backed by a majority of MPs in the new parliament.”
The president was set to continue his government formation talks on Wednesday, first meeting with the PSL and the centre-right Poland 2050 group, both of which make up the Third Way alliance, followed by discussions with the New Left and the far-right Confederation group, the PAP news agency reported.
The ruling conservatives won Poland's October 15 election, but lost their parliamentary majority, increasing the likelihood of an opposition government.
The governing 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 the Civic Platform (PO) party, won 30.7 percent of the vote and 157 seats.
The 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 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.
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.
The 100-seat upper house, the Senate, is less powerful than the lower chamber, but it can delay or amend legislation. The Sejm, the lower house, needs to muster an absolute majority to override Senate amendments.
Poland to appoint new government
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/gs)
Source: PAP, TVN24