AFPPro-European Polish opposition concludes coalition agreement
NOS Nieuws•vandaag, 20:35
The opposition in Poland, which won a majority in last month’s elections, has concluded a coalition agreement. The program is pro-European and opposition leader Donald Tusk said at the presentation that the parties will “restore the legal order that has been disrupted by the actions of their predecessors”. By this he refers to the government of the right-wing conservative PiS party.
The new coalition consists of the liberal-conservative Civic Platform led by former Prime Minister and former President of the European Council Tusk, the center-right pro-European group Third Way and the left-wing alliance Lewica.
Establish the rule of law
However, it may still take a few weeks before the coalition can actually govern. President Duda appointed PiS leader Morawiecki, the current prime minister, as prime minister candidate on Monday. Duda is an ally of PiS.
It is customary in Poland for the largest party to be the first to form a government. PiS is the largest in parliament with 194 seats, but has no absolute majority and no coalition partner.
The chance that Morawiecki will succeed in forming a majority coalition in the coming weeks is therefore nil. Especially now that Tusk has reached an agreement with the opposition.
Democracy, Europe and human rights
When signing the coalition agreement, Tusk called it good news for the rule of law in Poland. “The courts will be free from political pressure and the Public Prosecution Service will be able to act independently and apolitically.”
Tusk said that despite Duda’s decision to put his rival Morawiecki forward, things are going in the right direction. “We are ready to take responsibility for our country.” One of Lewica’s leaders, Robert Biedron, said Poland will return to democracy and Europe and that human rights will be respected.
Once the three parties led by Tusk have formed a government, one of the first measures will be a new abortion law, Biedron announced. Under PiS, an extremely strict abortion law was introduced that only allows abortion in a few exceptional cases, for example when the woman’s life is in danger.
Reporter Christiaan Paauwe from Poland:
“With today’s presentation, the opposition wants to clearly show that it is ready to govern. The parties also said this before the elections, but it was still exciting whether this colorful coalition would succeed in reaching a coalition agreement. This is also evident from the fact that a faction from the left-wing bloc does not want to participate in government. That faction believes that rolling back PiS’s ultra-conservative abortion legislation does not go far enough. The party will support the government from parliament.
In any case, the opposition led by Tusk has the majority and there is therefore no path to a government for Morawiecki and PiS. And that is exactly what the opposition, led by Tusk, wants to make clear today before the newly elected parliament has even had a session. It will meet for the first time on Monday.
The fact remains that the new government will soon have a lot of work to do to reverse PiS’s antidemocratic legacy, such as the systematic undermining of the rule of law in recent years. That is not something that can be arranged overnight.”
2023-11-10 19:35:31
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