European Central: Poland In The Aftermath Of PiS
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On October 15, 2023, the United Right Alliance, led by the right-wing populist Law and Justice (PiS) party, secured first place, albeit with a reduced share of both votes and seats, in the parliamentary elections. In second place was the centrist Civic Coalition, led by Donald Tusk, the head of the center-right Civic Platform party. With no alliance able to form a majority government, coalition negotiations ensued. However, on December 11, 2023, PiS lost a confidence vote in the Sejm, the lower house of Poland’s bicameral legislature, bringing an end to the party’s controversial eight-year hold on power.
Two days later, on December 13, Donald Tusk was sworn in for a second stint as Poland’s prime minister, promising that ‘Allegiance to the provisions of the constitution will be the trademark of this team, this new government.’ Tusk’s emphasis on defending the constitution was in part a signal of reassurance to the European Union, which had previously blocked billions of Euros in grants, loans, and funding to Poland due to the policies of the PiS government. However, it was also an indication that the Tusk government would be taking a radically different approach than the previous one.
Since taking power nearly ten months ago, Tusk’s government has moved to hold PiS ‘accountable for what they claim were corrupt practices’ during its tenure in government, with Tusk branding PiS as ‘Thieves, scoundrels, people without conscience, who robbed Poland for so many years.’ Among the accusations Tusk’s government has made against its predecessor are: wasting money on infrastructure projects, mismanaging government-controlled companies, ‘buying spyware to track political opponents,’ staffing state-controlled companies and government offices with party loyalists, and ‘using government money as a political slush fund.’ Several of these accusations have resulted in criminal charges, with several Members of Parliament from PiS and its junior coalition partner, Sovereign Poland, facing trials and potential prison.
Tusk’s government has also made rolling back its predecessor’s reforms a top priority. Poland was transformed dramatically in the eight years that PiS was in power. PiS alarmingly brought public and independent media under the control of the government, targeted members of the LGBTQ+ community, and further curtailed Poland’s already strict abortion laws. They also enacted controversial measures that made it easier to appoint loyalists to the judiciary and sideline judges who dissented from its decisions. The Tusk government’s justice minister and chief prosecutor, Adam Bodnar, has made restoring the ‘independence and impartiality of the courts’ a top priority. In July 2024, government officers raided the office of the National Council of the Judiciary to ‘seize documents related to disciplinary proceedings filed against judges who had opposed PiS’s judiciary reforms.’
PiS and its allies have labeled Tusk’s government the ‘coalition of revenge’ and have accused it of ‘conducting “political trials” against its enemies.’ PiS and its allies and supporters have also rallied together in response to the allegations of illegal misconduct, using the temporary arrest of Michał Olszewski, a Catholic priest taken into custody over missing funds from the government-controlled Justice Fund, to portray the government as vengeful extremists. Olszewski’s supporters claim that he was ‘mistreated and tortured in prison.’ Poland’s justice ministry has denied this allegation.
In late August 2024, Tusk’s government scored a significant legal victory in its ongoing struggle against PiS, as an electoral commission ruled that the party had ‘misused public money for campaigning.’ The commission stated that PiS unlawfully spent approximately $930,000 on last year’s parliamentary elections. As a punishment, PiS ‘will lose around 10 million zlotys ($2.59 million) from the funding related to its 2023 election performance, and will also lose about 10 million zlotys per year in annual funding until the end of the current parliamentary term in 2027.’ This could have negative consequences for PiS’s ability to build a strong and effective campaign for Poland’s presidential election in 2025. PiS labeled the commission’s decision an ‘attack on democracy,’ with former prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki saying that ‘It is part of the political game of the current government, whose goal is revenge and marginalization of the opposition.’ For his part, following the decision, Donald Tusk stated: ‘PiS has learned the true meaning of the words law and justice.’
Donald Tusk has taken advantage of his relatively brief time in government by launching an aggressive and effective campaign against PiS. His government has implemented measures to hold PiS members accountable for alleged acts of corruption and has sought to reverse some of the more contentious aspects of the Law and Justice party’s earlier reforms, including restrictions on the courts and media. The government’s actions seem to be reasonably popular in Poland. Tusk’s alliance, the Civic Coalition, defeated the PiS-led coalition in June’s European Parliament elections. Moreover, Tusk’s ‘trustworthiness’ ranking, as of August 2024, was higher than his PiS rivals, including President Andrzej Duda.
Tusk has established a strong foundation for his political movement, positioning the Civic Coalition to strengthen support across Poland and rebuild the country’s relationship with the European Union. While Tusk’s success demonstrates that being ruled by a right-wing populist party is not inevitable for European countries, he and his allies must nevertheless remain vigilant against a potential revival of the Law and Justice party. One can only wonder whether the Polish people will be equally vigilant.