Poland’s President Duda swears in government expected to last no longer than 14 days

A government that is expected to last no longer than 14 days was sworn in this Monday, November 27, by Polish President Andrzej Duda.

The move is seen as a tactical manoeuvre that will allow the conservative Law and Justice party to stay in power a little longer and give them time to make more appointments in their government agencies.

Following the national elections held in October, Duda swore in Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who had already been in office since the end of 2017.

Why does the new government only have 14 days?

According to the Polish constitution, Morawiecki and his cabinet now have 14 days to submit to parliament for a vote of confidence.

Due to the fact that Morawiecki has no coalition after his Law and Justice party lost its parliamentary majority and no other party wants to be part of the government, they will almost certainly lose the vote, with the PM recently estimating his chances to be ’10 per cent or even less’, according to humanmag.pl.

The remaining members of Morawiecki’s new cabinet also took the oath. Some ministers remained in their positions, including Mariusz Błaszczak, the Minister of National Defence.

However, many positions – including those in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Justice and Education – were filled with new appointments. Some political veterans probably decided that they didn’t want to be part of a government that was about to fall.

Critics of Morawiecki and Duda have condemned the decision to form a government that clearly has no chance of gaining the support of parliament, considering it a hopeless act of political theatre, said the aforementioned news outlet.

Some critics also pointed out that the outgoing party is using this time to make further nominations, which will increase its influence on state bodies even after leaving the government. In recent days, it has nominated loyalists to leadership positions at the state audit agency and financial regulator.

After eight years in power, Law and Justice won the most votes in the elections, but lost its parliamentary majority and won only 194 seats in the 460-seat Sejm.