“After consultations and deep deliberation, President Andrzej Duda has already made a final decision on entrusting the mission of forming a government in the so-called first step”, announced President’s Cabinet Chief Marcin Mastalerek. He added that in the evening, the president will deliver an address.

At the end of October, consultation meetings were held at the Presidential Palace. The president stressed afterwards that there are two political groups that claim to have a parliamentary majority and have a candidate for prime minister. The United Right’s candidate for Prime Minister is Mateusz Morawiecki and the candidate of the Civic Coalition (KO), the Third Way and the Left is Donald Tusk.

In the Sejm elections held on 15 October, PiS won 194 seats, KO won 157, the Third Way won 65, the New Left won 26 and the Confederation won 18.

President Duda announced that the date he has tentatively scheduled for the first sitting of the 10th-term Sejm will be Monday, 13 November. Under Article 154 of the Constitution, the President designates the Prime Minister. This is usually the person appointed by the parliamentary majority. The Prime Minister presents the programme of action of the Council of Ministers (known as the expose) to the Sejm with a motion for a vote of confidence.

If the Council of Ministers is not appointed or a vote of confidence is not given in the above procedure, the Sejm elects the Prime Minister and the members of the Council of Ministers proposed by the Prime Minister from among the candidates proposed by the MPs.

Should the above procedure fail to appoint the Council of Ministers, pursuant to Article 155 of the Constitution, the President appoints the Prime Minister and, upon his motion, the other members of the government within 14 days and takes the oath from them. The Sejm grants a vote of confidence to the Council of Ministers within 14 days of its appointment by the President of the Republic.

If the Council of Ministers is not given a vote of confidence also in this manner, the President shortens the term of the Sejm (which entails an automatic shortening of the term of the Senate) and orders a pre-terminal election.

Arkadiusz Słomczyński