“60,000 złotys as a tax-free allowance? It was supposed to happen – it didn’t. Dormitory housing for one złoty? Same story. Public debt levels? Up by 17 percent. Prices of basic goods and services? Sharply rising. Donald Tusk’s government is dragging us toward an abyss or a collision with an iceberg that will lead to catastrophe in at most two years,” says Andrzej Kosztowniak, Law and Justice (PiS) politician and former finance minister, in an interview with the portal Niezależna.pl.
The second anniversary of Donald Tusk’s government is passing. “100 specifics for the first 100 days of government” – with these campaign promises, Civic Coalition politicians, including Tusk himself, toured the country meeting voters. “Poland will hold us accountable for this; I’m not afraid of that,” Tusk declared in his exposé. So let’s do that, let’s hold them accountable.
So far, not even one-third of the 100 specifics have been fully implemented, the analytical portal Demagog points out.
“Two years after the chairman of this party (the Civic Coalition) took office as prime minister, only 17 promises have been fully carried out,” we read.
“Within 50 days of the government being sworn in, 3 promises had been fulfilled. After 100 days – the time frame announced for implementing the election programme – the number was 6. After one year, in addition to those six, 9 promises were fulfilled with delay,” the report emphasises. At least 43 promises are still awaiting implementation,”
it adds.
“Tusk is dragging us into an abyss”
To summarise the two years of the 13 December coalition government, Niezależna.pl asked Andrzej Kosztowniak – PiS MP and former finance minister in Mateusz Morawiecki’s government – for comment.
“I’m surprised that there are still Poles willing to give this coalition, led by Donald Tusk, another chance, and who are able to trust it. As a politician, Tusk has never lived up to his commitments to citizens, and it’s no different now. We remember how he swore he would never leave Poland, only to bolt to Brussels. He has repeatedly abused public trust,”
he notes.
“The 13 December coalition government should not remain in office a single day longer. In the area of public finances, for over two years, it has not delivered a single serious promise. It is conducting extremely irresponsible policy, often hiding behind the country’s economic situation and pointing to GDP or unemployment,”
he adds.
“Over the eight years during which Poland was governed first by Beata Szydło and then Mateusz Morawiecki, public debt fell by 2 percent. Now that debt has risen by 17 percent. Tusk is dragging us into an abyss or toward an iceberg that, within at most two years, will lead to disaster,”
he continues.
“An extremely indebted state has a guillotine hanging over it. States dependent on external markets lose their ability to steer their own economies. Today, we are heading toward a situation in which the Polish state will be practically 100 percent dependent on international institutions. We are giving up economic independence. This is extremely dangerous,” warns the former finance minister.
“Life in Poland is getting increasingly expensive. Anyone who doesn’t see it is either living in an alternate reality or doing so deliberately. Everyday goods are more expensive, food is more expensive, fixed obligations – bills and fees – are more expensive. People feel the rising prices more and more painfully,” the politician reminds.
“A 60,000 zł tax-free allowance – promised, but absent. Dormitory apartments for one złoty? Same. Shorter queues to see doctors? Also unmet. The examples are endless. The 13 December coalition government is a government of broken promises,” he adds.
“This government has deceived everyone who believed its assurances and promises – not only in domestic policy but also internationally. Tusk was supposed to be unbeatable in Europe. Yet in matters strategically important for Poland and its security, the prime minister is being sidelined. He doesn’t participate in talks. Leaders in Europe don’t even pretend that Tusk matters to them as an interlocutor,”
Kosztowniak says.
“Donald Tusk has completely destroyed society’s trust in politics. He has caused people to distance themselves from it. That is a bad thing, because as politicians – but also as citizens – we serve the Polish people, and Poles should be able to communicate openly with us. He has seriously damaged that relationship,” the interviewee concludes.