A new parliament for Poland
Poland's newly elected Sejm convened for the first time on Monday. At the constituent meeting, the new parliamentary majority appointed centrist politician Szymon Hołownia as its speaker. Last week, President Andrzej Duda tasked the PiS with forming a government despite the apparent impossibility of it reaching a coalition agreement. Commentators analyse the new situation.
Kaczyński relying on a failed strategy
The PiS is opting for total opposition, Rzeczpospolita notes:
“This may come as a surprise, considering that the PiS lost the election largely because of its radicalism and the fact that it made voters fear that giving it another term in office would lead to an even greater escalation of the conflicts that a majority of Poles had apparently had enough of. However, party leader Kaczyński seems to think this is the only correct strategy in opposition: to be even harsher, even more brutal and even tougher. The idea is also to smother the [nationalist] Konfederacja, especially before the European Parliament elections in June. ... Will it work? Probably not.”
Politics is treading new ground
Interia sees Donald Tusk, who is expected to become Poland's next prime minister, facing a difficult task:
“With the start of the new parliament's legislative period Polish politics enters terrain unknown to it for the past sixteen years. Up to now Poland has been governed by blocs that were coherent in terms of programme and mentality: first liberal-Christian-democratic [the PO und PSL bloc] and then right-wing populist. Now, however, things are different. The outgoing government must search for a new founding myth and is facing major leadership upheavals. The new government, formed not out of love but out of necessity, and ideologically exotic, will certainly not have an easy time.”