Tusk, who leads the centrist Civic Coalition (KO) grouping, made the declaration at a news conference on Thursday, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s polskieradio24.pl website reported.
Earlier, Kaczyński, who heads the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party, told reporters in the northern city of Elbląg that Tusk “has no beliefs apart from seeking to be important, to be in Europe, to be king.”
Tusk, a former Polish prime minister and European Council president, said: “When it comes to migration policy, my beliefs and the beliefs of Jarosław Kaczyński, and every issue without exception, also my activity as prime minister and as president of the European Council, I am ready to meet with Jarosław Kaczyński and hold a debate with him, even on [state broadcaster] TVP Info.”
Tusk added that the ruling conservatives “do not want an open, live TV debate with the leader of the opposition.”
He told reporters he was ready to face Kaczyński “on any TV station, in every place and at any hour.”
Earlier, government spokesman Piotr Müller said that a debate with Tusk would be “futile” as the opposition leader had “lied to his voters on many occasions about such issues as the raising of the retirement age and taxes,” state news agency PAP reported.
Poland is set to hold parliamentary elections on October 15.
Voters will head to the ballot box to elect 460 new MPs and 100 senators for a four-year term.
The ruling conservative Law and Justice party and its government coalition allies have maintained a clear lead over the opposition in most recent surveys, polling ahead of the Civic Coalition and the far-right Confederation group.
The ruling conservatives in 2019 won a convincing victory over opposition parties at the ballot box, securing a second term in power.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, polskieradio24.pl