If early elections is what PiS wants, that’s what they will get says PM
Donald Tusk, Poland’s prime minister, has said that the governing coalition is prepared to hold early elections, should the president disrupt the work of parliament.
On Thursday Tusk addressed speculation on the possibility of Poland holding general elections before the end of the current government’s term, while visiting Brussels for a summit of the European Council.
He said that if President Andrzej Duda and the opposition, which consists mainly of Law and Justice (PiS), the president’s old party, were to intentionally disrupt the work of the parliament, then early elections would indeed take place.
This, he suggested, would give his side an absolute majority in the Sejm, the lower house of parliament, which would allow them to overturn the president’s veto.
"I would just like to emphasise, and I want to be clear about it, because it’s the truth - if governing is impossible, because the president is trying to disrupt (parliament’s work), and if they will hope for an early vote, then they will get one," he said during a press conference.
Tusk added that he did not wish to begin a large campaign just months after winning the elections in October.
"We have too much to do," he said.
For the time being, however, he remained optimistic.
"I don’t think that PiS is especially enthusiastic about the idea of dissolving parliament and early elections," he went on to say.
"The president has made a decision, he signed the budget, so from where I’m standing as prime minister, there shouldn’t be any issue."
In Tusk’s view, now that the budget bill has been approved by the head of state, everything should go on as usual.
He added, "we have the budget, the country should function as normal."
Despite Duda signing the budget law, Tusk’s comments appear to reflect concerns within the government that the president might use his constitutional powers to veto or delay legislation.
The President’s Office released a statement on Wednesday, saying that while the budget has been approved the president had also referred it to the Constitutional Tribunal (TK), Poland’s top court, consisting mainly of judges appointed by the previous Law and Justice (PiS) government.
The bill has been put in front of the TK "due to the existing doubts regarding the correctness of the adoption procedure of the bill, caused by the inability of MPs Mariusz Kaminski and Maciej Wasik to attend lower house of parliament (Sejm - PAP) debates."
The PiS MPs had received prison sentences on charges of abuse of power and have since been pardoned by the president. They have however lost their mandates, seeing as no one, who had been sentenced by the court can be a member of the Polish parliament.
Both politicians still claim they are elected MPs, a view shared by their party colleagues and the president.
In the statement it was also announced that similar measures will be taken against future laws passed by the Sejm for the same reason.(PAP)
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