Polish Prime Minister, Donald Tusk will face a vote of confidence in parliament later today, Wednesday, June 11, 2025.
This comes as Tusk seeks to bounce back from his party’s presidential election defeat two weeks ago.
Warsaw centrist Mayor Rafał Trzaskowski, lost the presidency to right-wing populist Karol Nawrocki, backed by the opposition Law and Justice party, sparking questions over the government’s future.
Nawrocki is set to replace outgoingPresident Andrzej Duda,another conservative who repeatedly blocked Tusk’s reform efforts.
Unusually, the vote was called by Tusk himself in a bid to shore up his fragile coalition, demonstrate a clear political mandate to govern, and reset the narrative ahead of the 2027 parliamentary election.
The build up to today’s confidence vote revealed bitter personal and ideological divisions and disagreements within the coalition, as leading politicians publicly blamed each other for the government’s shortcomings and poor delivery on their flagship promises.
The government, which came to power in late 2023, promised to reverse the erosion of democratic checks and balances that had marked the eight-year rule of the Law and Justice party (PiS).
However, it faced a politically hostile presidency in the conservative incumbent, Andrzej Duda, who yielded the blocking power of veto.
With Nawrocki elected for a five-year term, the government has to learn how to live with a difficult President or face a complete paralysis.
Most of the power in Poland’s parliamentary system rests with an elected parliament and a government chosen by the parliament. However, the president can veto legislation and represents the country abroad.
Tusk Foresees Greater Challenges
Speaking to lawmakers ahead of the confidence vote, Tusk acknowledged that the result of the presidential election makes it clear that the government will face “greater challenges than we expected.”
“This is not an earthquake, but let’s call things for what they are: we are facing two and a half years of very hard … work in [political] conditions that are not going to improve.”
Donald Tusk
Tusk had long counted on a Trzaskowski victory to break the institutional deadlock created by Duda’s vetoes. However, Trzaskowski lost.
“We cannot close our eyes to reality. A President who was reluctant to accept the changes we proposed for Poland and our voters is being replaced by a President who is at least equally reluctant to those changes and proposals.”
Donald Tusk
Nonetheless, Tusk insisted that the coalition still “has the mandate to govern” it received in 2023.
The Polish Prime Minister pointed out “impatience, sometimes disappointment or anger” among voters, and stressed that the government needs to take responsibility for the defeat and “not … offer excuses”, but show a plan for the road ahead.
Tusk outlined his plans for the future.
He noted that, assuming they win the vote today, the government will appoint a spokesperson in June to “overhaul” its communications with a broader political reshuffle to follow in July.
So far Tusk has sought to communicate his policies to the public himself on social media and in news conferences.
He added that the government has a number of draft laws ready to go, including new rule of law reforms and a broader deregulation push.
He urged his MPs to show discipline and get behind the government’s plans to regain the momentum ahead of the 2027 parliamentary election.
PiS MPs were absent during Tusk’s address.
The confidence vote, scheduled for Wednesday afternoon, is widely expected to go in Tusk’s favor. His four-party coalition holds a narrow but stable majority in the 460-seat Sejm, Poland’s lower house.
A loss would trigger the formation of a caretaker government and may open the door for an early parliamentary election.
That could potentially returning power to the conservative Law and Justice party, in coalition with the far-right Confederation party, whose candidate placed third in the presidential race.
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