The Parliament of Poland, newly elected, rejected an attempt by the right-wing forces to stay in power despite losing a general election. This paves the way for opposition leader Donald Tusk to become leader of the largest country on Europe’s formerly communist eastern flank.
As expected, legislators rejected a new government proposed by the caretaker prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, whose party, Law and Justice, lost its parliamentary majority in the October election.
Mr. Morawiecki, who led Poland’s previous right-wing government, resigned after the election but was asked by Poland’s president, Andrzej Duda, an ally of Law and Justice, to stay on in a caretaker capacity and to try to form a new government.
Opponents of Law and Justice denounced Mr. Duda’s move as a last-ditch attempt by the defeated party to prolong its rule and appoint allies to positions in state institutions and companies.
A commission formed by the outgoing government to investigate Russian influence recommended that Mr. Tusk and other leading opposition figures not be allowed to hold positions responsible for state security. However, the vote in Parliament on Monday ended the defeated party’s efforts to remain in power and left Mr. Tusk, a former prime minister and leader of the main opposition party, Civic Coalition, poised to take leadership of a new government.
After a day of often raucous debate, 266 legislators voted against the government proposed by Mr. Morawiecki and 190 for, far short of the majority it needed in the 460-member Sejm, the more important lower house of the Polish Parliament, to hang on. Opposition members chanted “Donald Tusk, Donald Tusk,” as the result was announced.
Mr. Morawiecki, ignoring demands from the speaker of Parliament that he stop talking and jeers from opposition legislators, delayed the vote with a lengthy defense of Law and Justice’s record and pleas that he be allowed to stay in office.
By rejecting Mr. Morawiecki’s proposed government, parliament delivered a grave blow to Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the chairman of the defeated party, Poland’s de facto leader since 2015 and a bitter political enemy of Mr. Tusk.
In a speech to Parliament, Mr. Kaczynski pleaded with legislators to support Mr. Morawiecki, warning that Poland risked losing its independence to the European Union if Law and Justice did not continue governing the country. He repeated his oft-stated view that the opposition serves foreign, particularly German, interests.
The Polish Constitution gives Parliament the right to nominate a prime minister if the president’s nominee fails to win support from legislators. Mr. Tusk is expected to be nominated by the Sejm and be confirmed by the body as prime minister when a confidence vote is held later in the week, probably on Wednesday.
The installation of a new government headed by Mr. Tusk could be a drastic shift away from Poland’s direction during eight years of Law and Justice rule. Scope for change, however, will be crimped by the grip of Law and Justice appointees on the judiciary and powerful state bodies.
Mr. Tusk and his allies are divided on the issue of abortion, but share a common desire to restore the independence of the Polish judiciary and repair relations with the European Union.