Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of the populist nationalist party in power in Poland, returned to the government on Wednesday June 21 as deputy prime minister. A return which occurs shortly before the Polish legislative elections, which will take place this autumn.
The 74-year-old politician is widely considered to be the de facto leader of Poland, since his Law and Justice (PiS) party’s first victory in the 2015 legislative elections. The return to government of Jaroslaw Kaczynski “is an absolutely justified decision and necessary” from a national security perspective, Polish President Andrzej Duda said at an appointment ceremony.
“The role of Mr. Jaroslaw Kaczynski will be different from the one he had in the previous period,” said Jacek Sasin, one of the resigning deputy prime ministers. “From now on, he will coordinate all government work […] Mateusz Morawiecki remains Prime Minister,” he added.
“This is an important reinforcement before the elections and a clear signal that we are fighting for victory in the next election campaign,” government spokesman Piotr Müller said in the morning.
While the PiS is still leading in the polls, the main opposition party – the Civic Platform (PO) – is in the process of regaining ground. According to a poll conducted by the CBOS institute, Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s party can count on the support of 33% of those questioned, while PO is credited with 27% of voting intentions (up 4% compared to the poll previous).
The far-right Confederation party is credited with 8%. The left as well as the coalition between the peasant party PSL and the liberal party Polska 2050 would each obtain 5% of the votes, according to this poll carried out between June 5 and 18 among 1,054 people.
On the opposition side, Mr. Kaczynski’s return to government was greeted with irony. “Kaczynski returns to the government he has led from the beginning, and his formal leader has always been his subordinate,” Grzegorz Schetyna, one of PO’s top officials, said in a tweet.