The image of the Tusk government on television is of a smiling administration, but behind closed doors, the reality is that tempers are often frayed and ministers upset with their boss.
Portal wProst.pl has been speaking to politicians from the ruling coalition, and they have revealed that “some of the weaker members of the cabinet have been reduced to tears after government meetings.” Tusk does not tolerate fools and likes to demonstrate his intellectual superiority over most of his government, says the source.
Tusk is reported to be especially annoyed with the environment minister, Paulina Henning-Kloska, from the Third Way alliance, who managed to mishandle legislation on wind turbines the prime minister was very keen on.
Those who spoke to the portal are convinced that there will be a major conflict within the ruling coalition over the number of deputy ministers Tusk wants to see cut, and the fall guys will be from the Left party because it did badly in the local elections. If their ratings do not improve in the European parliamentary elections, their goose may be cooked.
“Tusk is attempting to cannibalize parties other than his own,” claims one unnamed source. Tusk is also reported to have few advisers to constrain him. His domination of the coalition is built on his strength of personality and skills at dividing and ruling.
These reports look to have been confirmed by the resignation of Deputy Minister for Labor and the Family Pawel Zgórzyński, who officially departed “for personal reasons,” but who is rumored to have left because of tensions within the government.
