English Section

New Polish gov’t to take office

27.11.2023 09:30
A new Polish government is expected to take office on Monday after a swearing-in ceremony at the presidential palace, but its chances of remaining in power are slim.
Mateusz Morawiecki
Mateusz MorawieckiPAP/Rafał Guz

Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and his ministers are scheduled to take their oaths before President Andrzej Duda in Warsaw at 4:30 p.m.

Morawiecki, who led Poland’s previous conservative government from 2017 until earlier this month, was on November 13 named by the president as prime minister-designate and tasked with forming a new Cabinet.

President Andrzej Duda at the time accepted the resignation of Morawiecki and his Cabinet ministers in line with constitutional rules in a step designed to make way for a new government.

At the same time, Duda entrusted Morawiecki with continuing in his duties until a new government is formed, state news agency PAP reported.

Morawiecki submitted the resignation of his previous Cabinet at the first session of the country’s new parliament.

His new Cabinet needs to win a vote of confidence in parliament in order to stay in office.

After Monday’s ceremony at the presidential palace, Morawiecki will have 14 days to deliver a policy speech in parliament, outlining his government's priorities.

Poland's lower-house Speaker Szymon Hołownia said on Friday that he wanted Morawiecki to present the new Cabinet to parliament for approval as soon as possible.

Polish voters elected a new set of 460 MPs and 100 senators when they went to the ballot box last month.

Morawiecki's 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 in mid-November secured a resounding victory in Poland's new parliament during its first key vote to elect a house Speaker.

Poland's opposition groups have 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.

Opposition leader Donald Tusk, a former top EU official, has already chosen most candidates for ministerial roles in his future Cabinet, according to the Rzeczpospolita newspaper.

Hołownia told reporters on Friday that "all the names of the members of Donald Tusk's future government have been agreed on."

Tusk was Poland's prime minister from 2007 to 2014.

(gs)

Source: IAR, PAP