AP Photo/Michal Dyjuk
Poland’s parliament elected centrist party leader Donald Tusk as prime minister on Monday, paving the way for a new pro-EU government after eight years of stormy national conservative rule.
Mr Tusk becomes prime minister nearly two months after a national election that was won by a coalition of parties ranging from left-wing to moderate conservative.
The parties ran on separate tickets but promised to work together under Mr Tusk’s leadership to restore democratic standards and improve ties with allies.
The vote was 248-201 in support of Mr Tusk in the 460-seat lower house of parliament, the Sejm, with no abstentions.
After Mr Tusk gave a short speech, the lawmakers rose to sing the national anthem.
Mr Tusk is scheduled to give a speech to parliament on Tuesday.
He will also present his Cabinet and face a vote of confidence for his new government.
He should then be sworn in by President Andrzej Duda on Wednesday.
The election of Mr Tusk comes after the former government of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki’s government lost a confidence vote in parliament earlier on Monday.
The votes marked the ended of eight tumultuous years in which the national conservative Law and Justice party ruled the country with the support of many Poles — but at bitter odds with liberal Poles as well as the European Union and other Western allies.
Mr Tusk is expected to improve Warsaw’s standing in Brussels.
His leadership of the EU’s fifth largest member by population will boost centrist, pro-EU forces at a time when Eurosceptics, such as Geert Wilders in the Netherlands, are gaining strength.
The step-by-step power transition, coming nearly two months after Poles turned out in huge numbers to vote for change, was delayed for weeks by President Andrzej Duda, who kept his political allies in office as long as possible.
The change of power is felt as hugely consequential for the 38 million citizens of the central European nation, where collective anger produced a record-high turnout to replace a government that had been eroding democratic norms.
The election was won by a bloc of opposition parties ranging from left-wing to moderate conservative who ran on separate tickets but promised to work together to restore the rule of law.
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