Prime Minister Donald Tusk promises a new program for the Civic Coalition for the next term, even though many of the pledges from the 2023 campaign are still awaiting delivery. “A golden decade lies ahead of us,” the head of government declared. And what about the “100 Specifics for 100 Days”?
Tusk’s Sunday address at the Copernicus Science Centre brought a pledge of a fresh start within the Civic Coalition. The party leader assured that before the 2027 parliamentary elections, voters will see a program for the next term. He also announced he will run in the party’s internal leadership elections, which are to begin later this year.
New promises overshadowed by unmet ones
The prime minister’s upbeat message comes at a time when the record on delivering 2023 election promises leaves much to be desired. Although Tusk’s government took power on slogans of swift change and “restoring the rule of law,” many key commitments have not been fulfilled. For example, Poles are still waiting for a tax-free allowance of 60,000 złoty.
Even so, Tusk remains upbeat. “I am convinced this will be a program that you yourselves will call a program for Poland’s golden decade, because a golden decade truly awaits us,” the prime minister announced.
His declarations came a day after a convention in Warsaw at which Civic Platform, Modern (Nowoczesna) and Polish Initiative (Inicjatywa Polska) officially announced they would merge into a single party under the Civic Coalition banner.
Tusk wants to remain KO leader: “For now, I’ve still got work to do”
Asked about running for party leader, Tusk did not hide his plans. “I will run, I will seek the post. And apparently I even have some chance. You can never be sure, but they say I have a chance,” he said wryly.
Tusk stressed that, in line with the democratic rules in the party, all members will have a vote in a direct election. Not only the top posts will be chosen, but also authorities at lower levels of the party structure.
However, he noted that the presentation of the new program will not happen immediately. “For now, I’ve still got work to do,” the prime minister admitted, signaling that he intends to focus first on current challenges. He did not declare whether the famous “100 Specifics” would finally be delivered. On the contrary, Tusk recently said he had implemented only part of them because he received 31 percent of the vote, not 100 percent.
The question remains whether KO’s new program will be more realistic than the previous one—and whether voters, remembering unmet promises, will give the prime minister the benefit of the doubt for another term. For the moment, the main question is another: whether Prime Minister Tusk’s government will last until the end of the current term.