Polish premier says government holds stable majority despite coalition tensions

WARSAW

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said late Tuesday that his government retains a “stable majority” despite rising tensions within the ruling coalition following a presidential election loss last month.

“The government has a stable majority,” Tusk wrote on social media platform X after talks with leaders of the four-party coalition to discuss a Cabinet reshuffle, according to state-run news agency PAP.

“As you can see, maintaining the coalition is difficult, but possible, as is rebuilding the government and agreeing on a strategy that will allow for a revival after losing the presidential election. It requires, of course, courage and loyalty,” he wrote.

Tusk’s remarks followed internal criticism and speculation over the future of the coalition formed by his Civic Coalition (KO), the center-right Poland 2050, the center-left Third Way and the Left.

Lower-house Speaker Szymon Holownia, leader of center-right Poland 2050, denied rumors that he was in talks with the opposition to form a new government. Holownia last week met with Jaroslaw Kaczynski, leader of the opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, without consulting party lawmakers.

Kaczynski has said PiS aims to return to power in the 2027 parliamentary election.

Deputy Prime Minister Krzysztof Gawkowski of the Left said Tuesday the coalition was at its most fragile point since taking power in late 2023.

“I believe that the coalition has never been so close to the abyss. It has never been so close to the brink of collapse, because no one knows what's around the corner and who's talking about what and with whom,” Gawkowski told private broadcaster TVN24.

In parliamentary elections last October, the PiS-led United Right bloc fell short of a majority. Tusk’s Civic Coalition joined with Poland 2050, the Third Way, and the Left to form a majority government with 54 percent of the vote.

However, divisions resurfaced after the June 1 presidential runoff, in which KO’s candidate Rafal Trzaskowski failed to unseat the PiS-aligned incumbent. Some KO figures blamed Holownia for drawing support away from Trzaskowski.

Although Tusk won a parliamentary vote of confidence in early June, disagreements persist within the coalition over abortion rights, same-sex marriage, and the handling of migration at the country’s borders.

Tusk said Tuesday he had taken Holownia’s “explanations and declarations” seriously and planned to present the “new shape of the Cabinet” around July 15.