“This party has lost any reason to exist. It was not a ‘third way’ at all, as Poles were promised. It effectively became Donald Tusk’s ‘third leg,’ part of the left-liberal camp. Today there may still be a chance to try to salvage something. It will be difficult. Still, I think Szymon Hołownia believes it is possible,” said Jacek Sasin, commenting on Poland 2050.
A new leader of Poland 2050 has been chosen: Katarzyna Pełczyńska‑Nałęcz, the Minister of Funds and Regional Policy. In the repeated second round of voting, she received the support of 350 out of 659 party members who cast ballots. Her rival, Paulina Hennig‑Kloska, the Minister of Climate and Environment, received 309 votes. Yesterday’s decisive electronic vote began at 4:00 p.m. and ended after 10:00 p.m.; more than 800 people were eligible to vote.
Before the election, however, another option was also on the table—calling the elections again. That variant would have allowed new candidates to run, including the party’s current leader Szymon Hołownia, who did not rule out standing in such a scenario. This proposal failed to gain support, as did the idea that Pełczyńska-Nałęcz and Hennig-Kloska should become co-chairs of the party.
What next for Hołownia?
On Miłosz Kłeczek’s program High Voltage on the Telewizja Republika, the future of Poland 2050 and of its now former leader, Szymon Hołownia, was discussed today.
“All those earlier statements indicate what role he wants to play. He realized he had been outmaneuvered by politicians, that he naïvely believed—above all—Donald Tusk’s promises that he would secure him a prestigious job abroad, at the UN. That turned out from the start to be a pipe dream. Hołownia seems to have understood that this was a game designed to eliminate him as a strong leader. Now another mistake would be to accept reality and disappear,” argues Jacek Sasin of PiS.
In his assessment, “the situation is very interesting, because these elections are a nightmare for Donald Tusk. And not because of Szymon Hołownia, but because even if this party splits, Tusk will have problems with the entire group of 30 MPs. The faction that would remain with the new chairwoman will not necessarily function so obediently within the coalition.”
“I think that today the visions of Poland—of how it should be governed—held by the governing majority and by President Karol Nawrocki clearly diverge. They differ sharply. From a practical standpoint, it is still possible to govern the country with such a shaky majority, or even without a majority, somehow—but when you are in conflict with the president, a conflict that Tusk has provoked and deepened every day, it becomes very difficult,” claims the MP from the largest opposition party.
Sasin recalls unclear situations between the prime minister and the minister who will now head Poland 2050 while remaining in the governing coalition.
“Ms. Pełczyńska-Nałęcz was humiliated by Donald Tusk—let’s be honest—such as over the issue of a deputy prime minister in this government. From the outset, he made it clear that he did not see her in that role. Or even in the government at all. He treats her as a problem. Behind the scenes there were reports of a lack of cooperation, a lack of understanding, and an inability to act together. Today she has become the leader of one of the coalition parties. That is a group of 31 votes in parliament—a lot, especially given the size of that party,” he emphasizes.
“This party has lost any reason to exist. It was not a ‘third way,’ as promised to Poles. It effectively became Donald Tusk’s ‘third leg,’ part of the left-liberal camp. Today there may be a chance to try to salvage something. It will be difficult. Still, I think Szymon Hołownia believes it is possible. Perhaps he has a last chance to show that he truly is a third way, and not an appendage to Tusk and the arrangement that has been destroying Poland for the past two years,” Sasin concludes.