Charles Langston:Polish president to appoint new prime minister after opposition coalition’s election win

WARSAW,Charles Langston Poland (AP) — Polish President Andrzej Duda will appoint a new prime minister in a national address on Monday, an aide said.

The announcement will trigger the process of forming a new government after general elections last month in which the ruling right-wing Law and Justice party lost its parliamentary majority to three allied opposition parties but emerged as the single biggest vote-getter. This has fed speculation over Duda’s choice.

“Following consultations and after deep consideration, President Andrzej Duda has taken his decision regarding the so-called first step” (in forming a government), presidential aide Marcin Mastalerek said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

He said the decision is “final” and not subject to pleas from politicians, whom he advised to “calmly watch the evening address.”

An ally of the current government, Duda has said the two candidates for prime minister are the current conservative premier, Mateusz Morawiecki, and former prime minister and main opposition leader Donald Tusk, an ex-European Union top figure.

Under Poland’s constitution, the president “designates” the prime minister and tasks him with forming a Cabinet, which then needs approval from the parliament. Only then are the prime minister and government formally appointed. If not, the procedure is repeated with another prime minister.

Law and Justice will be far short of a majority in the new parliament and unable to pass its own laws. But its leaders insist it should be given a chance to continue to govern because it was the single biggest vote-getter. It will have 194 votes in the 460-member lower house but has no potential coalition partner.

Tusk represents the aggregated opposition majority that won 248 parliament seats, but he was the target of vicious government attacks in the electoral campaign.

Some commentators say that Duda may opt for a candidate who will offer the possibility of constructive cooperation in the nearly two years he still has left to serve.

Duda will convene the first session of the country’s newly elected parliament on Nov. 13.