Polish opposition groups say Donald Tusk is their candidate for prime minister
The leaders of opposition parties that collectively won the most votes in Poland’s recent elections say they have agreed to form a government together
WARSAW, Poland — The leaders of the opposition parties that collectively won the most votes in Poland's recent elections announced Tuesday that Donald Tusk, the leader of the largest group, is their candidate to be prime minister and that they want to get to work as soon as possible.
“We are ready to create a government,” Tusk, a former prime minister and former president of the European Council who heads the Civic Platform party, said as he and other opposition party leaders stood together in parliament to announce their decision to cooperate.
He thanked the other leaders “for your trust.”
The announcement came just before President Andrzej Duda opened two days of consultations with the heads of parties that won seats in the new parliament. Duda first welcomed Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki and other representatives from the conservative ruling Law and Justice party to the presidential palace. A meeting with Tusk was to follow.
Tuesday's developments mark important steps on the path to the formation of a government after the national election on Oct. 15, though it is still unclear when a new government can take over in the Central European nation of 38 million people.
The opposition groups that collectively won the most votes campaigned on promises to restore democratic standards and ties with the European Union that worsened over the eight years of rule by Law and Justice. They together won over 54% of the votes and will have a comfortable 248 seats in the 460-seat Sejm, the lower house of parliament. They took an even greater share of the seats in the Senate, though
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