Polish Parliament to vote on confidence in government on June 11

(Patria) - Polish lawmakers will vote on confidence in the government on June 11, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced yesterday, as he seeks to strengthen his center-left coalition after his candidate's defeat in the Polish presidential election held on Sunday.

Tusk's presidential candidate, the liberal Warsaw mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, lost by a minimal margin in the election to the eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, a blow to the government's efforts to solidify Warsaw's pro-European orientation.

"These elections are not an attempt to continue what we have been doing before, because we know that some things can be done better and faster. This is a day of new momentum," Tusk told reporters.

Political analysts say Tusk's defeat in Sunday's election was partly a sign of growing dissatisfaction with his government's progress in fulfilling the election promises that brought him to power 18 months ago.

A CBOS poll conducted at the end of May showed that only 32 percent of Poles support the current government.

Tusk's coalition ended the eight-year rule of the nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party in 2023.

The former president of the European Council, a centrist, promised to repair what he said was damage done to democratic rule and the rights of women and minorities under his predecessors.

Nawrocki has campaigned in recent months on a promise to prioritize the needs of Poles over the needs of migrants or refugees from the war in Ukraine, reminiscent of US President Donald Trump's MAGA rhetoric.

Nawrocki will likely use his presidential veto to undermine Tusk's liberal political agenda and block government legislative initiatives.

Tusk has a convincing majority in parliament, but some analysts say Tusk's difficulties in the last 18 months have partly stemmed from tensions between his left-wing and center-right allies on issues such as abortion.

One of his government's key promises was a plan to ease the country's near-total abortion ban, introduced under the PiS government.

"The fundamental question here is: what is the goal of Tusk's coalition? Is it something more than just parliamentary or government positions?

If so, then the coalition needs to set aside its own ambitions and play for the same team," said Anna Materska-Sosnowska from the University of Warsaw.

While there may be room to build a more effective consensus within the coalition, Tusk will likely not find it easy to convince the conservative Nawrocki to support policies such as greater access to abortion.

The outgoing President Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally, has made it clear that he will block any such attempt with his veto, and Nawrocki has said he will follow his example.