Friday's comments were part of a series of daily press conferences organized by PiS to scrutinize various aspects of the administration's first year in office.
Critics focused on areas including the economy, security and the justice system. The comments appeared to be long on rhetoric and short on facts, government supporters said.
Former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, a leading PiS politician, described the past year as "very bad for the economy, society, the budget and investment."
Some experts countered this with data from institutions such as the National Bank of Poland (NBP), showing that inflation net of food and energy prices stood at 4.1 percent year on year in October, about half of what it had been at the end of PiS rule in October 2023.
Mariusz Błaszczak, a former defense minister and head of the PiS parliamentary caucus, claimed that Tusk's administration lacked both ambition and effectiveness.
Błaszczak criticized the administration's approach to policymaking, accusing it of abandoning progress made since Poland's transition to democracy in 1989.
"In 12 months, the government has trampled on the constitution, laws and the legislative process," he said.
"Ambitious development policies have been abandoned, leaving major projects like the Central Transport Hub (CPK) and nuclear power plants in limbo," he added.
Government officials retorted that the EU in February released EUR 137 billion in recovery funds which had been frozen for some years due to the EU's concerns about the previous government's growing disregard for the rule of law.
They also announced that the first plane is anticipated to land at Poland's planned new hub airport (CPK) in Baranów, some 40 kilometers west of Warsaw, in the fall of 2032.
Błaszczak painted a bleak picture of the government's handling of education and security. He accused Tusk’s administration of cutting back educational programs, promoting ideological agendas, interfering with university autonomy, and causing a decline in research institutions.
In response, government experts cited a September report by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), saying that education expenditure in Poland as a share of GDP "remained roughly constant at 4.6 percent."
On national security, Błaszczak claimed the government had delayed defense contracts, neglected police recruitment leading to record vacancies, and mishandled the ongoing migration crisis.
The government reacted by saying that Poland's defense spending is set to rise to 4.7 percent of GDP in 2025 and the country is leading NATO on military expenditure as compared to the size of its economy.
(rt/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP/PAP, euronews.com, oecd.org