Poland’s president has a national mandate and can propose and veto legislation (which Tusk’s coalition doesn’t have the votes to override), but the country’s domestic and foreign policies are largely under the control of the government run by the prime minister.
PiS legislators clapped and chanted Nawrocki’s name during the speech, while Tusk and members of his Cabinet looked on solemnly.
“I want to speak to all Poles for whom today is a sad and disappointing day. I know very well how you feel. I understand you,” Tusk said in a video published just minutes before Nawrocki’s inauguration. “We all believed that honesty, goodness, and love would prevail. What has happened puts our faith to a serious test.”
Nawrocki also referenced the bitter election campaign, where he was dogged by scandals ranging from a football hooligan past to a property deal that triggered a criminal probe and accusations (which he denies) that he provided prostitutes to hotel guests while working as a security guard.
He said he won “in spite of electoral propaganda and lies. In spite of political theater and in spite of the contempt,” something he said he would “forgive as a Christian.”
The new president laid out his agenda until the end of his five-year term, and there are many areas that will clash with Tusk’s priorities.
