Poland’s Tusk Raises Snap Election If Duda Blocks His Budget

Wojciech Moskwa and Natalia Ojewska
·2 min read
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(Bloomberg) -- Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk raised the prospect of holding a snap ballot less than four months after an election if his budget is blocked, stoking a political fight between his government and the nationalist opposition.

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Although a legal path to a new election is fraught with uncertainty, Tusk’s comments amount to an ultimatum to President Andrzej Duda, who may submit the legislation for the 2024 budget to Poland’s Constitutional Tribunal rather than approve it — effectively blocking for now the premier’s first major legislative package.

“If in some way President Duda wants to prevent the government from paying people money, then perhaps I and my coalition partners will decide to immediately shorten the parliamentary term and call new elections,” Tusk told reporters in Warsaw.

Tusk’s pro-European government has struggled against fierce resistance to its agenda since securing a majority in the October election and taking office last month. The premier has vowed to dismantle eight years of nationalist rule, which were beset by accusations of eroding democratic standards and the rule of law.

Duda, an ally of the former ruling Law & Justice party, is the main obstacle to Tusk’s ambitions. Although he can’t veto the budget, the head of state can throw it into a legal morass as the top court — dominated by Law & Justice appointees — weighs in on Tusk’s package. Duda has until Thursday to decide.

Sending the budget, which includes a raft of wage hikes for public-sector workers including teachers, to the court would be “irrational,” Tusk told reporters on Tuesday.

For his part, Duda has said he hopes to sign the budget legislation “without any issues” — and ruled out the prospect of an early election.

“I don’t see this possibility at all,” Duda told Bloomberg in a Jan. 17 interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. While upbraiding Tusk’s government, he said “I hope that in the case of the budget there will be no violations and I’ll be able to sign it without any problems.”

Tusk has pledged to restore the independence of the court system, a plan fiercely opposed by the nation’s veto-wielding president. If he manages to overhaul the contested system for disciplining judges, the EU is set to unlock access to nearly €60 billion euro ($65 billion) in aid.

The prime minister also said his coalition will propose constitutional changes to finally enable the overhaul of key institutions, including the Constitutional Tribunal. Such a change would require at least two thirds backing in parliament, meaning Tusk will have to seek support outside his governing coalition.

--With assistance from Konrad Krasuski and Maciej Martewicz.

(Updates with election timing, previous Duda comments from first paragraph.)

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