Donald Tusk is unpredictable. He has no understanding of foreign policy or the economy, but he is a master at provoking extremely negative emotions. What’s more, he has a range of tools at his disposal: the intelligence services, the police, and the media. To preserve the system and consolidate his power, he is capable of anything – including starting a political war. Together with party-affiliated satellite groups, with whom he shares the spoils of plundering Poland’s assets on a massive scale, commented Professor Piotr Grochmalski, an international affairs expert, in an interview with the portal Niezalezna.pl.
Hours have passed since the electoral victory of Karol Nawrocki was announced, yet Prime Minister Donald Tusk remains silent on congratulating the winner. It is highly likely that he will speak for the first time only via the government-controlled TVP Info.
There is widespread commentary suggesting that the defeat of the Civic Coalition’s candidate in the presidential election will accelerate the erosion of the December 13 coalition. Talk has begun of a government reshuffle, Tusk requesting a vote of confidence in the Sejm, and even the potential breakup of the coalition and snap parliamentary elections. Niezalezna.pl asked Professor Piotr Grochmalski for his commentary on these reports.
“In a short period of time, Donald Tusk has created a system that closely resembles the mechanisms built by Putin or Lukashenko, who rose to power in Belarus by convincing the public that only he could confront corruption and the nation’s challenges. Tusk has involved hundreds of people in his strategy and has stoked a spiral of fear, as evidenced by yesterday’s initial, underestimated exit poll results,“
Niezależna.p’s interviewee explains.
Many voters did not reveal their voting decisions yesterday simply out of fear. Tusk has built a model in which millions of Poles are excluded and isolated from the state’s project. The aim is to create an underclass of people – intimidated, terrorized, and removed from public life, he adds.
“Tusk holds a powerful instrument of fear. He has drawn into his strategy the heads of the security services, and the attorney general, all of whom obediently carry out actions that are destructive to the Polish state. At this moment, the focus is on maintaining the current system of power in Poland and the status quo,“
believes Professor Grochmalski.
The goal is simple – to survive the initial shock and blow of the election loss. Tusk is now a defeated man, backed into a corner. At the same time, he is gripped by a mania for power and is ready to initiate a political war to retain it, he continues.
It is worth recalling what the prime minister did at the end of the campaign. He involved himself directly in the campaign process, attempting to discourage PiS voters by crafting a narrative that they were voting for a man who was a pimp. This mirrors what happened in 2020, when a similar operation was conducted against Andrzej Duda, accusing him, among other things, of paedophilia. This demonstrates Tusk’s desperation, seeing that Karol Nawrocki was closing in on Trzaskowski in terms of support, says the expert, adding: Tusk is unpredictable, and on top of that, he holds powerful instruments in his hands.
Strange operations during the campaign involved the Internal Security Agency (ABW), the Military Counterintelligence Service (SKW), the police, parts of the army, and politicians from the coalition, he recalls.
According to Professor Grochmalski, it is unlikely that Tusk’s coalition partners will abandon him anytime soon.
“All the parties within the December 13 coalition are united by the large-scale looting of Polish national assets. The scale of this plundering is unprecedented in history,“
he claims.
Strange operations during the campaign involved the ABW, SKW, police, parts of the army, and coalition politicians.
The presidential election confirmed that 60 percent of Polish society leans right, yet we have an extremely left-wing government. Not even a centrist one – as the political centre represented by Szymon Hołownia and the Polish People’s Party (PSL) has vanished, he states.
“Donald Tusk is unpredictable. He lacks knowledge of foreign policy and economics but excels at inciting extremely negative emotions. Additionally, he has a wide array of instruments at his disposal: intelligence services, police, and media. To preserve the system and cement power – even with German support – he is ready to do anything, including starting a political war. This makes him very dangerous. Let us be pleased with the outcome of Sunday’s election, but we cannot rest on our laurels, because Tusk will not give up so easily,“
he concludes.