“I have said many times that, as part of the government reshuffle, we should first replace the prime minister,” said Marek Sawicki, a member of the Polish People’s Party (PSL), on Monday.
October 15 marked two years since the “December 13” coalition took power. According to a recent poll by the Pollster Research Institute for Super Express, many voters of the ruling coalition parties are disappointed with how the government is performing. Currently, only 65 percent of those who voted for the coalition in 2023 would do so again. Twenty-two percent of coalition voters have changed their minds, and 13 percent remain undecided.
“I have said it many times”
Interestingly, these results come after the long-announced government reshuffle. Although several ministers indeed lost their positions and new faces appeared in their place, there was no change at the top. According to PSL’s Marek Sawicki, that is where the reshuffle should have started.
“I have said many times that, as part of the government reshuffle, we should first replace the prime minister. Things turned out differently; we are now more than two months after the reshuffle,” he said on Polish Radio 1.
He emphasized that the decision belonged to “the largest coalition club, Civic Platform.”
“They are standing by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and of course, they have the right to do so. How this ends, we will see in two years,” he declared, adding: “It seems to me that, nonetheless, a change of prime minister, along with a reconfiguration of the government and a significant reduction in the number of ministries, would have improved the situation.”
When asked whether the coalition led by Tusk could win the next parliamentary elections, he replied that it would not depend on one person.
“The coalition can last until then, but whether it wins – that won’t depend solely on Donald Tusk, but also on the activity of the other ministers,” he assessed.
Who Could Replace Tusk?
If replacing the prime minister could improve the coalition’s standing, then who could take Tusk’s place? Commentators have often suggested Radosław Sikorski as a possible successor. Unfortunately for both the deputy prime minister and Civic Platform, Poles believe that such a reshuffle would not increase the ruling coalition’s chances of staying in power.
Read more: Tusk Under Fire Again? Coalition Partner Admits Replacing the Prime Minister Could Have Changed Everything