Poland – In a confidence vote held on Monday, December 11, the Polish Sejm entrusted Donald Tusk with the task of being Poland’s next prime minister. Earlier that day, incumbent Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, whom President Duda had asked to try to find a majority as the head of the biggest party in the Sejm, failed to win a vote of confidence.
Poland had a parliamentary election on October 15 where the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party came first but failed to renew its absolute majority. A coalition of three alliances of parties, from the centre to the left, declared their support for Donald Tusk to become the country’s prime minister. Tusk was prime minister of Poland in 2007–2014 and then President of the European Council for two consecutive terms.
In Poland, if the president’s candidate fails to win a confidence vote in the lower house of parliament, it is then for deputies to choose their preferred candidate. Tusk having won a confidence vote, President Duda will now have no other choice but to appoint him as prime minister.
“Tomorrow we will have the opportunity to debate the expose, there will be questions, a debate lasting many hours”, Tusk said after winning Monday’s confidence vote. “I would like to thank the Polish people. Thank you, Poland, this is a truly great day. Not for me, but for all those who over these long years have deeply believed that things will be better yet, that we will chase away the darkness.”
In fact, a survey conducted by the IBRiS institute in early December shows that a majority of Poles do not expect Donald Tusk to be a good prime minister for his third tenure at the head of the Polish government. Only 31% of respondents said that they expected him to be an excellent or good prime minister, whereas 42% think he is going to be a hopeless or bad prime minister. 22% think he will be an average prime minister.

One thing is certain. Donald Tusk is likely to be the Prime Minister for the next 4 years, at a point in time in which Poland faces significant challenges, including balancing national identity with EU integration, addressing demographic shifts, fostering innovation for economic growth, and navigating geopolitical tensions in the region.