Two Candidates Vying for the Position of Prime Minister in Poland

After consultations with political parties that secured representation in the new Sejm, President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, announced the existence of two potential candidates for the position of Prime Minister and set a date for the first session of the new parliament. As anticipated following the parliamentary elections, these candidates are the incumbent Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and the opposition leader, Donald Tusk, as reported by TVN24.

President Duda noted that the situation of two candidates competing for the role of Prime Minister is a novel development in Polish democracy, and he assured that he would take this circumstance into account. This situation arose as the party "Law and Justice," which received the most votes in the elections, faced a situation where the coalition of opposition parties in the Sejm will hold the majority.

"Today, we have two serious candidates for the position of Prime Minister, two political groups vying for parliamentary majority," stated Andrzej Duda.

Despite calls from the opposition to commence Sejm proceedings as soon as possible, President Duda decided that the term of the current parliament is still ongoing and sees no reason to shorten the four-year term of its authority in accordance with the Constitution. Thus, he scheduled the first session of the new Sejm for November 13.

However, the majority of Polish citizens believe that President Andrzej Duda should entrust the formation of the new Polish government to a candidate chosen by opposition parties and coalitions. This is reflected in a survey by SW Research for the rp.pl portal.

Specifically, 56% of respondents believe that the President should delegate the formation of the new Polish government to a candidate endorsed by three opposition parties. Only 25.7% of those polled think that Duda should grant the mandate to a candidate from "Law and Justice," and 18.3% of respondents remain undecided on the matter.

Recall that two days ago, the leaders of opposition parties, "Civic Coalition," "Third Way," and "Left," officially declared their readiness to form a coalition and nominate the leader of the "Civic Platform," Donald Tusk, for the position of Prime Minister.

The leaders of the opposition parties have called on President Andrzej Duda not to delay the holding of the government's first session, to determine who has the majority, and to entrust the formation of the government to a representative of the winning opposition, rather than someone from the ruling "Law and Justice" party.