Donald Tusk, the leader of the largest coalition in Poland's newly elected parliament, will become Prime Minister in a few days. His appointment will put an end to eight years of rule of the nationalist, populist Law and Justice (PiS) party, represented in the government by Mateusz Morawiecki.
This is reported by The Guardian.
The Tusk-led alliance won a clear majority of seats in the 15 October vote, but the country’s president, Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally, gave incumbent prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, the first chance at forming a government, widely seen as a delaying tactic.
Morawiecki must present a new government to the Sejm, Poland’s lower house of parliament, on Monday, which will be followed by a vote of confidence. He is expected to fail. The Sejm then will nominate its own candidate, expected to be Tusk, who will present his government on Tuesday. After intense negotiations between prospective coalition partners, a cabinet has already been agreed.
In addition, if the Polish Parliament votes for Tusk's government on Tuesday, he could take office as soon as Wednesday - potentially allowing him to travel to the EU Leaders' Summit scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
The 66-year-old Tusk was a Prime Minister between 2007 and 2014, before he left domestic politics to become the president of the European Council.