Poland’s Tusk sets confidence vote on his government for June 11 due to ‘new political reality’

Poland's Prime Minister faces confidence vote after ally's election loss, as new president threatens pro-European agenda.

Poland’s Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Tuesday (June 3, 2025) that parliament will hold a confidence vote on his government on June 11, as the country faces a “new political reality.”

He called for the vote after his political ally, the liberal Warsaw mayor, lost Poland’s weekend presidential election to conservative Karol Nawrocki.

“We are starting the session in a new political reality,” Mr. Tusk said, at the start of a Cabinet meeting in Warsaw. “The political reality is new, because we have a new president. But the constitution, our obligations and the expectations of citizens have not changed. In Poland, the government rules, which is a great obligation and honour.”

Mr. Tusk’s government runs most of the day-to-day matters in Poland. It also exists separately from the presidency, but the president holds power to veto laws and influence foreign policy, and Mr. Nawrocki’s win will make it extremely difficult for Mr. Tusk to press his pro-European agenda.

There are already questions about whether Mr. Tusk’s fragile coalition can survive until the next scheduled parliamentary election at the end of 2027. Some of his political opponents are calling for him to step down.

The decision to call a confidence vote is apparently an attempt by Mr. Tusk to try to reassert authority in a shifting political situation where some of his coalition partners might be less likely to want to stick with him.

Mr. Tusk oversees a coalition of several parties spanning an ideological divide, from left-wing progressives to centrists to agrarian conservatives. The divided coalition has failed to agree on some issues and the government has failed to fulfill some of Mr. Tusk’s key promises, including a liberalisation of the restrictive abortion law.