WARSAW

Poland’s opposition is calling for a formal investigation on Monday after the lower-house speaker, Szymon Holownia, also leader of a junior coalition party, said Friday he had been pressured to halt the swearing-in of the new president, calling the alleged plan a “coup d’etat.”

Holownia told Polsat News that he had been encouraged to delay convening the National Assembly, which would swear in president-elect Karol Nawrocki.

Although Holownia sought to water down his remarks, writing Saturday on Facebook he had used the phrase “coup d’etat” not in legal terms but "as a political diagnosis," also affirming the June 1 presidential election’s validity and insisting there were no legal grounds to prevent the National Assembly from swearing in the president-elect, the political storm continues to grow.

Presidential adviser Lukasz Rzepecki demanded that Holownia name names “for the good of the country.”

Former opposition party Law and Justice (PiS) Prime Minister Beata Szydlo wrote on X: “Knowledge of a planned coup d’etat is not something to be written about in memoirs. This must be fully disclosed and explained as soon as possible.”

Since Karol Nawrocki, backed by PiS, won Poland’s presidential runoff on June 1, the three-way coalition – Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s Civic Coalition (KO), the Left and Polska 2050 (headed by Holownia) – has become increasingly unstable, with Holownia reportedly recently discussing with PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski creating a new government coalition.

Since returning to office in late 2023, the coalition government has faced legislative stasis, in part caused by PiS-aligned president, Andrzej Duda’s veto power, but also incompatibility of policy aims, most notably over abortion and same-sex marriage, within the coalition.

There were calls for recounts of the tight June 1 election run-off between Nawrocki and Warsaw mayor and Tusk ally, Rafal Trzaskowski, although electoral authorities confirmed that election irregularities had been minimal.

Tusk also criticized Holownia over his comments. “When we send children on vacation, we tell them, ‘Don’t do stupid things, because stupid things can turn into a drama.’ It’s the same in politics,” Tusk said.

Malgorzata Paprocka, an aide to Duda, confirmed the National Assembly would be convened on Aug. 6 for Nawrocki’s oath of office.