A shockwave in the ruling coalition. Donald Tusk has suffered a humiliating defeat in his struggle for influence within Poland 2050, and his carefully laid plan to “devour” Szymon Hołownia’s party has collapsed. The victory of Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz in the party’s internal elections is the scenario the Civic Platform leader feared most. Are we heading toward the fall of the government and early elections? The backstage details of this political war are revealed by Piotr Lisiewicz in the latest issue of “Gazeta Polska.”
This was supposed to be another stage in Donald Tusk’s dominance on the opposition scene, a repeat of the maneuver that destroyed Nowoczesna. Behind the scenes, the Prime Minister supported Paulina Hennig-Kloska, counting on her pliability and an easy takeover of the coalition partner’s electorate. Instead, a rebellion broke out within Poland 2050. Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz won, someone Tusk is said to openly dislike. Why? As one Poland 2050 MP quoted in the article claims:
“Kaśka is the only minister in the government who isn’t afraid of Tusk. Ninety-nine percent of officials are afraid, and she isn’t, she simply has guts.”
Lisiewicz describes mounting tension and open hostility between the head of government and the new leader of Hołownia’s faction. Tusk reportedly misses no opportunity for spite.
During one cabinet meeting, when photojournalists focused on the minister, he is said to have remarked sarcastically: “One can only envy such popularity.” But this is said to be just the tip of the iceberg. Nerves are fraying within the Civic Coalition. When MP Paweł Śliż congratulated Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, Civic Coalition MP Magdalena Filiks responded with a vulgar social media post:
“More like a f***ing chicken with its head cut off, running around the yard in three directions and trampling everything along the way.”
The article in “Gazeta Polska” lays out the scenarios now on the table. Will Tusk try to break up Hołownia’s party by luring away individual MPs? Names mentioned as potential additions to Civic Coalition lists include Aleksandra Leo and Ewa Szymanowska. Asked about the promised spots on electoral lists for supporters of the defeated Hennig-Kloska, one politician responds tersely: “No comment” (literally: “Tomato,” a Polish colloquialism used to dodge a question). Szymon Hołownia, however, is said to be aware of the threat and is taking a hard line, threatening to break the coalition. “If anyone on that side starts poaching our MPs, that’s the end of the coalition,” the Speaker of the Sejm warned, calling it a case of “crossing a red line.”
The text also recalls the controversial past of both rivals – from Hennig-Kloska’s disputes over the symbols of the Polish Underground State, to Pełczyńska-Nałęcz’s role in the policy of “reset” with Russia. Despite this, paradoxically, the new deputy prime minister is viewed by the opposition as a substantive figure who has not carried out political purges in her ministry.
Will the government survive until the end of its term? PiS MP Przemysław Czarnek, speaking with the author, rules out no scenario, including a constructive vote of no confidence. “One can also imagine a situation in which Donald Tusk himself would decide to resign from the government,” Czarnek analyzes, pointing to the possibility of pre-emptively calling early elections as a way out.