Polish government to appoint first spokesperson after 18 months in office amid presidential election fallout

Poland’s ruling coalition has announced that it will appoint a government spokesperson for the first time since taking office 18 months ago, as pressure mounts following its defeat in Sunday’s presidential election. Media reports also indicate a major government reshuffle is being prepared.

The victory of opposition-backed Karol Nawrocki over government-aligned Rafał Trzaskowski has raised questions over the effectiveness – and even viability – of the ruling coalition. It prompted Prime Minister Donald Tusk to announce a vote of confidence in his government, which will take place on 11 June.

Since December 2023, Poland has been ruling by a diverse coalition of parties, ranging from the left to centre right, though dominated by Tusk’s centrist Civic Platform (PO). They took power from the national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS), which is now in opposition.

One of the most persistent criticisms of the government has been its lack of coherent communication. In the absence of a government spokesman, individual ministries have overseen their own – not always consistent and effective – messaging.

“Our government thinks it is so great that it doesn’t need communication for anything,” wrote deputy education minister Joanna Mucha sarcastically in a Facebook post criticising PO for Sunday’s presidential election defeat.

She said that, whereas PiS’s “messaging is 100% under control”, with “every word a response to what they got from research”, PO has “no prepared messaging”.

Mucha was for years a leading figure in PO but in 2021 defected to the centrist Poland 2050 (Polska 2050), which is now a junior coalition partner to PO.

Independent commentators have echoed the frustration. A widely shared post by businessman Aleksander Twardowski on X urged the coalition to fix its messaging urgently.

“Sorry, but if various people have been writing to you for months that it’s bad that you don’t have a spokesperson, then I think something is up,” he wrote.

At a press conference on Thursday, the leaders of PO’s coalition partners – Szymon Hołownia of Poland 2050, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz of the Polish People’s Party (PSL) and Włodzimierz Czarzasty of The Left (Lewica) – announced measures aimed at improving public communication. Tusk, the leader of PO, was not present.

“We will appoint a government spokesperson and there will be a completely new centre responsible for shaping the government’s information policy,” said Hołownia. He also announced the formation of a coalition council that will meet weekly to align strategy and priorities.

Czarzasty acknowledged the government’s communication shortcomings. “There were more questions than answers from our side,” he said, adding that discussions on a government reshuffle were underway, confirming earlier media reports, and that all coalition partners supported the move in principle.

“We need a month, a month and a half, and we will present it,” said Czarzasty.

Earlier this week, Rzeczpospolita, a leading daily newspaper, reported that up to eight ministries could be dissolved or merged in the coming reshuffle, expected in August after President-elect Nawrocki takes office.

Broadcaster RMF reported the changes could come even sooner, by July, with up to three ministers potentially losing their posts.

Those reportedly under threat include climate and environment minister Paulina Hennig-Kloska, whose ministry has been accused of failing to deliver on key energy transition goals; justice minister Adam Bodnar, criticised for not sufficiently holding Law and Justice (PiS) figures accountable; and health minister Izabela Leszczyna.

Despite the growing tension, Kosiniak-Kamysz, who also serves as deputy prime minister, dismissed suggestions of internal collapse.

“There was no dispute. There was a discussion about what strategy to adopt, what projects are most important,” he said, referring to post-election talks between the coalition partners.

He confirmed that the prime minister’s address to parliament on 11 June, ahead of the vote of confidence, will reflect a shared vision across the coalition and offer “a full plan and strategy for the coming years”.

Hołownia noted that the speech is being jointly drafted. “It will contain programmatic content and commitments important to all of us, with a sense of responsibility for the state of public finances and the situation we find ourselves in today,” he said.

Since coming to power, the ruling coalition has been hindered in implementing its agenda by the presence of PiS-aligned President Andrzej Duda, who is able to veto bills or send them to the constitutional court, stacked with PiS-era judges, for assessment.

The government had been hoping that a Trzaskowski election victory would allow it to work more effectively. But the gridlock now looks set to continue once Nawrocki replaces Duda in August.

Opinion polls indicate that Tusk’s administration is unpopular, with a survey by state research agency CBOS last month finding that only 32% of Poles hold a positive view of the government while 44% have a negative one.

Main image credit: Kancelaria Premiera/Flickr (under CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)