Presidential aide hints at Polish ruling party being given first chance to form new government

A senior aide to President Andrzej Duda has suggested that the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party will be given the first opportunity to form a new government, despite Sunday’s elections leaving it with no obvious way of forming the parliamentary majority needed to govern.

By contrast, three opposition groups together have a majority and have expressed a willingness to form a coalition government. One of their leaders has called on Duda – who is a PiS ally – to appoint a candidate for prime minister who has a realistic chance of winning the support of parliament.

Małgorzata Paprocka – who is a minister in the president’s chancellery with responsibility for overseeing issues relating to the president’s constitutional powers – spoke today to broadcaster Polskie Radio.

She noted that, in accordance with the constitution, after elections it is the president’s prerogative to designate a candidate for prime minister who then chooses a cabinet. Subsequently, that government must win a vote of confidence in the Sejm, the lower house of parliament, to remain in office.

If it loses that vote, then the Sejm has an opportunity to nominate a prime ministerial candidate of its own instead. A vote of confidence is then held in that candidate’s proposed government.

Paprocka noted that there is no constitutional requirement regarding who the president should nominate as his candidate for prime minister. But she added that, by tradition, the person chosen comes from the party that obtained the largest share of the vote – which in this case would be PiS.

Official results from Poland’s elections show that the ruling PiS party has come first, with 35%, but lost its parliamentary majority.

Three opposition parties, with a combined 54%, would be able to form a government.

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— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 17, 2023

“Looking historically at how these provisions were implemented by all previous presidents – because constitutional custom is very important when interpreting the constitution – this mission has always been entrusted in the first step either to the head of, or to a person appointed by, the party that won the elections,” she said.

Paprocka acknowledged that, while PiS technically won the elections, it is the three opposition groups – who together have enough seats for a parliamentary majority – that are seeking to form a government.

“But these parties did not run as a formal coalition and took second, third and fourth place in these elections,” she noted. “If these parties had run as a coalition from one [electoral] list, the situation would be different today.”

Therefore what “we are dealing with [is] a coalition at the level of certain declarations of political leaders, and not a formal coalition within the meaning of electoral law”, added Paprocka.

Despite exit polls indicating that the opposition now has a majority, the ruling PiS party has insisted it will try to form a coalition to remain in power.

But PSL, a party cited as a potential partner by a PiS figure, has unambiguously ruled out the idea https://t.co/7fQ2N9pfqo

— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 16, 2023

Asked about opposition leader Donald Tusk’s appeal yesterday for Duda to make “an energetic and quick decision” on naming a new prime minister, Paprocka said that the president would operate within all constitutionally mandated deadlines.

“It is difficult to talk about any great acceleration [of the process] when the elections were only three days ago, and the official election results were announced only yesterday,” she noted.

Finally, asked if Duda – whose term in office runs until 2025 – would be able to cooperate with a future government formed by the opposition, Paprocka said that “what it will look like in practice is difficult to predict today”.

“There were very strong campaign statements [from the opposition],” she added. But the president will certainly be interested in cooperation so that he can continue his policies, the aim of which is above all the good of our country and citizens.”

Donald Tusk has declared that opposition groups are „in constant contact” and “ready to govern” after winning a combined majority in the elections.

He has urged the president, whose role it is to nominate a new prime minister, to act quickly https://t.co/20o5aPDvEd

— Notes from Poland 🇵🇱 (@notesfrompoland) October 17, 2023

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Main image credit: Marek Borawski/KPRP

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.