Donald Tusk elected as Polish prime minister
The Polish parliament has backed Donald Tusk to become prime minister after current leader Mateusz Morawiecki lost a key vote in the country’s parliament on Monday.
Mr Morawiecki’s populist Law and Justice (PiS) party failed to win a majority in October’s elections.
President Andrzej Duda, a PiS ally, nonetheless nominated Mr Morawiecki to lead the government.
His failure to win a vote of confidence paves the way for Mr Tusk to become PM.
In all, 190 MPs voted for Mr Morawiecki’s government, compared with 266 against. The Sejm, the country’s parliament, then nominated Mr Tusk to lead the country.
He is expected to take office this week.
October’s elections saw a coalition led by Mr Tusk win a majority of seats with a record turnout of more than 70%.
The grouping comprises three parties, Mr Tusk’s Civic Coalition (KO), the Third Way and the Left.
Mr Morawiecki’s ruling PiS emerged as the single biggest party after the election, but other parties refused to work alongside it and it was not able to form a majority in parliament.
Mr Duda’s decision to nominate Mr Morawiecki to lead the country meant that the formation of the new government was delayed for several weeks.
Mr Tusk was previously prime minister of Poland between 2007 and 2014, and later European Council president.
The new prime minister will present his cabinet on Tuesday. Among those expected to be nominated are Radoslaw Sikorski, who previously served as foreign minister under Mr Tusk.
—BBC
