The Polish Sejm passed a vote of no confidence in the government of Mateusz Morawiecki, it follows from the broadcast of the meeting on the website of the lower house of parliament.
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456 out of 460 deputies took part in the voting. 190 people voted for a vote of confidence in Morawiecki and his government. 266 deputies voted against. Nobody abstained. Immediately after the vote, Sejm Speaker Szymon Holownia announced a break for an hour and convened a council of elders in his office. Then the lower house of parliament will begin the procedure of nominating its candidate for the post of prime minister.
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Until a new government emerges in Poland, Morawiecki remains technical prime minister.
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After the autumn parliamentary elections, Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s Law and Justice (PiS) party, which until recently ruled the country, was unable to obtain half of the seats in the Sejm. In turn, disparate opposition political forces together received more than 50 percent of the mandates and managed to create a coalition.
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Despite the balance of power in the Sejm, after the elections, Polish President Andrzej Duda instructed Morawiecki, who headed the previous cabinet, to form a government. He soon swore him in. The President and Prime Minister used the maximum possible constitutional time between elections, the formation of a government, the oath of office and consideration of the issue of a vote of confidence. As a result, a vote of no confidence in the Morawiecki government was passed only today, although parliamentary elections were held on October 15.
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In the future, the Sejm will try to determine a new candidate for the post of prime minister. The opposition, which has a parliamentary majority, agreed in advance that it would be the ex-head of government, former Chairman of the European Council Donald Tusk. It is expected that he will be nominated for the post of prime minister today or tomorrow. After this, Tusk will propose his composition of the government, which, according to the constitution, the president is obliged to swear in “without delay.” This is expected to happen no later than December 13th. Until this moment, Morawiecki will serve as acting prime minister.
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Once Tusk’s government is sworn in, he will have two weeks to make a keynote speech in parliament. After this, the Sejm will consider the issue of issuing a vote of confidence to the new cabinet of ministers.
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If the Sejm is unable to determine the candidacy of the prime minister by a majority vote, or the new prime minister later receives a vote of no confidence from the Sejm, the initiative again passes to the president. He will entrust the formation of the government to a prime minister of his choice, who will also be sworn in and appeal to the Sejm for a vote of confidence.
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If this prime minister also receives a vote of no confidence, then in accordance with the constitution the president is obliged to shorten the term of office of parliament, which means holding new parliamentary elections.
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Recently, the Polish opposition under the leadership of Tusk won a serious victory in parliamentary elections. The current composition of the Polish Sejm differs from the previous one in that the Law and Justice (PiS) party of Jaroslaw Kaczynski no longer has a majority in it. As a result of the elections on October 15, Law and Justice received 194 seats in the Sejm, and the opposition Civic Coalition – 157, Third Way – 65, Left – 26. Another 18 seats were received by the coalition of nationalists and Eurosceptics “Confederation”.
