Civic Coalition

Poland votes for change after nearly a decade spent sliding towards autocracy – but tricky coalition talks lie ahead for Donald Tusk

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, October 17, 2023
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Now it seems the right-wing Law and Justice party (PiS) is on the way out of government.

Key Points: 
  • Now it seems the right-wing Law and Justice party (PiS) is on the way out of government.
  • Although PiS came away with the highest percentage of votes (35.38%), a coalition of opposition parties looks more likely to end up in power.
  • The Civic Coalition (KO), an alliance of centre-right parties led by former European Council president Donald Tusk, has secured 157 seats in parliament.

The return of Donald Tusk

    • Tusk has vowed to turn back towards European Union partners and for Poland to keep pace with them on social issues, such as by introducing same-sex marriage.
    • Women, who have seen their rights to abortion care ultimately vanish under PiS, can be hopeful of a shift back towards liberalisation under a Tusk administration.
    • Tusk has said PiS has “dehumanised” too many people during its time in power.
    • As Tusk himself put it: “It’s the end of the evil times”.

The demise of PiS

    • The PiS years have been characterised by a gradual dismantling of Poland’s liberal democratic order.
    • Donald Tusk and KO have won because Poles did not want to become an electoral autocracy, as forecast in the event of an unprecedented third term for PiS.
    • PiS attempted to push immigration up the agenda during the campaign rather than tackling these issues head on.

Not quite a done deal…

    • Andrzej Duda, president of the Polish Republic (and a PiS member), needs to decide who should form a government.
    • Following established tradition, his first choice will be PiS because it was the most voted for party, even if it doesn’t have a majority.
    • If Duda fails to find a government after three attempts, he will have to dissolve parliament and call fresh elections.