WARSAW: The Polish government’s majority in parliament fell to two seats yesterday with the departure of one of its most senior lawmakers, leaving Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s grip on power at its most fragile since he took office six years ago.
Tusk’s rule is not under immediate threat, but any further erosion of his support in parliament could lead to the collapse of his coalition and early elections, with hard-to-predict consequences for central Europe’s biggest economy.
Jaroslaw Gowin, who unsuccessfully challenged Tusk for the party’s leadership in a contest last month, became the second member of parliament to depart Tusk’s Civic Platform party in the past two weeks in arguments over policy.
A first test for Tusk’s reduced majority will come when the 460-seat parliament votes on a government law on transferring some assets from private pension funds to the state. Opponents, including some in Tusk’s own party, say it amounts to a nationalisation.
Gowin said the pension reform triggered his departure, but it was preceded by months of wrangling. Gowin led a conservative faction within the Civic Platform that believed Tusk too liberal on issues such as abortion and same-sex partnerships. Reuters
