Weekly Briefing, Vol. 32, No. 1 (PL), September 2020
Discussions on changes in the government
August is usually a period of political stagnation in Polish politics. However, the last few months were politically extremely intense because of the presidential elections which took place at the turn of June and July (first and second round). Also summer turned out to be politically no less hot than the spring time. The topic no. 1 was the government reconstruction planned for autumn and the preparations being made, including the resignation of several key ministers, plans to liquidate some of the ministries and political bargaining between the coalition partners.
Debates on changes in the government
The issue of government reconstruction was present in the media discourse already during the winter months, after the parliamentary elections won by the coalition of conservative parties Law and Justice (Prawo i Sprawiedliwość, PiS), Solidarity Poland (Solidarna Polska) and the Agreement (Porozumienie). However, the primacy of the presidential election, which PiS wanted (understandably) to win at all costs and keep Andrzej Duda as President, as well as the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, significantly reoriented the priorities related to changes in the government. The reconstruction was to be made in a few months.
However, already in mid-July, after Duda’s victory over the opposition candidate Rafał Trzaskowski, the discussion about who Prime Minister Morawiecki would like to remove from the government resumed. The chairman of Law and Justice, Jarosław Kaczyński – indeed the main player in Polish politics – prompted the discussion himself. Kaczyński announced in a radio interview that there will be changes in Mateusz Morawiecki’s government soon. As he said, “I think it will happen right after summer holidays.” Kaczyński did not want to talk about changes in specific ministries, he only assured that the incumbent Prime Minister would remain in his position. This statement sparked a wave of speculation as to who and when would lose or gain a new position.
Soon after that, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jacek Czaputowicz, shed some more light on the matter. He admitted that a few months earlier he had agreed with Morawiecki to continue his mission as head of diplomacy only until the presidential election. He assured that no one was pressing on him in this matter and stressed that “now it is a good time to make a change in this position”.
Shortly, a debate over the names of the ministers who would resign was launched. As the media indicated, Morawiecki was supposed to be dissatisfied with the work of some members of the government, including Minister of Finance Tadeusz Kościński, Minister of Labor and Social Policy Marlena Maląg and Minister of Sport Danuta Dmowska-Andrzejuk. Out of all 20 ministries represented in Polish government, the Ministry of Finance as well as the one responsible for family and labor issues, are crucial. Therefore the change in the position of their heads in the current, quite uncertain situation on the financial markets and in social matters, seemed risky.
These surprising and controversial changes were also confirmed in unofficial talks by politicians from the ruling parties. However, when asked for official comments on this matter, the leading politicians of all three political groupings took their breaths and claimed that the government would certainly be reshuffled, but that neither of the partners was certain of the changes. The government spokesman also declined to comment or indicated that the reconstruction would not take place until autumn.
Resignations of Ministers
However, the talks gained real momentum in mid-August. On August 17, Janusz Cieszyński resigned from the position of deputy Health Minister. The politician pointed out that he had planned this step for a long time. Yet, it caused a wave of hot comments – mainly because Cieszyński was responsible for purchases during the COVID-19 crisis and was responsible for still unexplained financial transactions, including for the acquire of respirators, masks and other medical equipment, bought by the Ministry of Health in March this year for the amount of over PLN 300 million (EUR 70 million), which contractors have not yet provided.
Surprisingly, a day later the Minister of Health, Łukasz Szumowski, also resigned from his position. In a laconic communiqué, the head of the ministry stated that, like Cieszyński, he had been planning his resignation for a long time, and that he wanted to return to his medical profession, but at the same time he wanted to keep his mandate as Member of Parliament. The Minister explained that summer is the perfect time to quit from his position, because “the pandemic is now under control, the ministry has developed operating measures, and hospitals, clinics and doctors have developed procedures for dealing with COVID-19 patients”.
Despite the reassuring tone, this resignation infuriated the public opinion. It has not happened for a long time that the politicians responsible for such a socially sensitive ministry resigned almost simultaneously. Taking into account the current situation in the healthcare sector and the consequences of the pandemic, it was pointed out that both of these resignations looked like “a joint escape from fire”. It was emphasized that the flu season in Poland would start in September, and the combination of the epidemic of this disease with the coronavirus pandemic would lead to the collapse of the Polish health care system. The minister’s explanations were ridiculed, as it was indicated that the true reason for his departure was the desire to avoid responsibility for false purchasing decisions and the resulting huge financial losses for the state budget. As MP, Szumowski will retain his immunity (guaranteed to members of the Sejm and Senat), and therefore it will be impossible to charge him.
The wave of outrage that spread among the public opinion only increased in the following days, as there were more resignations in other ministries. The aforementioned Minister Czaputowicz followed in the footsteps of his colleagues. On August 20, he announced his resignation as head of diplomacy. Although he had planned to leave office earlier, his resignation caused consternation. Taking into account the current international situation and in particular the sharp protests in Belarus, Czaputowicz was accused of “departing from the battlefield”, and leaving Polish eastern policy in enormous chaos. Considering the above, the resignation of another official – undersecretary of state in the Ministry of Digital Affairs, Wanda Buk – did not surprise anyone.
Soon a carousel with the names of the candidates for ministers was launched. Ultimately, the role of a head of the Ministry of Health was given to Adam Niedzielski, a Polish economist and manager, specializing in financial and strategic management, who in the previous years was the director general at the Ministry of Finance (2016-2018), deputy president of the National Health Fund for operational matters (2018 – 2019), and the president of the National Health Fund (2019–2020). On the other hand, Zbigniew Rau – professor of legal sciences, former Senator (2005–2007), and former Lodz region administrator (2015–2019) – was appointed as the new Minister of Foreign Affairs.
Disputes between the coalition partners – struggle for power and influence
However, the rotation of ministers is only part of the changes – larger ones are related to the reduction in the number of ministries themselves. According to the ongoing coalition talks, only 11 to 13 of the current 20 ministries are to remain. This means losses for all three parties, but the greatest losses for the smaller coalition partners – Solidarity Poland and Agreement – which, instead of two ministries, will have one ministry each. The reduction of ministries will also bring about a significant consolidation of power caused by creating a “slimmer government”, and the creation of several “super-ministries” – including the Ministries of Administration and Home Affairs, the Ministry of National Defense and the Ministry of Justice, which will take over some of the competences of the liquidated ministries. In fact creating such mega-departments is crucial for the political changes carried out by the current government.
Coalition talks are underway – it is unofficially known that none of the leaders of the three political parties wants to agree to far-reaching concessions at the cost of losing their own power, but the Prime Minister himself demands extensive reform, since he wants to increase “steering” in the government. Morawiecki explains that such a broad apparatus of executive power generates huge costs and is very time consuming.
Yet, it can also be assumed that he wants to strengthen his influence in the PiS party at the expense of politicians who throughout the time have built their authority in individual ministries and treated them as their own kingdoms. This struggle for power between internal factions may lead to interesting reshuffles in the ruling camp.
Of all the unknowns, the only thing that is certain is that the new government will be smaller. PiS and the coalition partners must take into account the loss of their positions. The puzzle is difficult, because both Solidarity Poland and Agreement are negotiating the terms of new coalition agreements, which have not yet been signed despite the fact that almost a year has passed since the parliamentary elections were won. And in Kaczyński’s party there is a competition for the seats of vice-presidents as well – those who will eventually take them have the best chance of taking over the chairman’s seat in the future. A hot autumn is waiting for Polish politics.