Polish President Andrzej Duda has appointed ministers for a government headed by Mateusz Morawiecki, who has been prime minister for the last six years and is supported by the conservative Law and Justice (PiS), which lost its parliamentary majority in October’s general election.
The most striking feature of the new government is the number of women. For the first time in Polish political history, the majority of the ministers are female, numbering 10 out of 19.
However, this historic first is expected to be short-lived, as PiS does not have the majority in parliament necessary to form a government.
The government put forth by Morawiekci came about as a result of President Duda’s decision to give Morawiecki the chance to form a government and seek parliamentary approval for it because the Law and Justice (PiS) party remains the largest party in the Polish parliament.
The government that was sworn in by the president on Nov. 27 includes only three ministers from the last government: Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak, Marlena Maląg, who is now minister for development, and Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk, now foreign minister.
Most of the new government were former junior ministers or senior civil servants who served in the last PiS administration and some lesser known PiS MPs who have been contemptuously described as “no names” by politicians from the new parliamentary majority represented by the left-liberal bloc.
This does not bode well for the conservative government, which needs to attract the votes of MPs from other parties, without which it has no chance of surviving a vote of confidence. This vote of confidence has to be held within 14 days of its appointment.
PiS party leader Jarosław Kaczyński, in an interview with the Polish Press Agency (PAP), took full responsibility for the new administration, making it clear that its ministers had been approved by him and that the very concept behind this “expert-political government” was his.
Kaczynski said his party wanted to propose a “different face” to “end the war,” which was being conducted by the largest party from the new parliamentary left-liberal majority, Donald Tusk’s Civic Coalition (KO).
However, the chances of this conservative government being confirmed by a majority in parliament are near zero, as the majority in the legislature is held by four parties: Donald Tusk’s KO; Poland 2050 and the Polish People’s Party (PSL), which together make up the electoral Third Way alliance; and the Left party, which has signed a coalition agreement. They have already taken control of parliament by electing the speaker, Szymon Hołownia, who is the leader of Poland 2050.
