Until Donald Tusk appeared after the government meeting and commented on the matter, it was said that this was part of the agreement between the small and the big palace. The Prime Minister wants to see Piotr Serafin as a commissioner in the new European Commission and in return he will agree with the presidential candidate. Since the morning, however, we have heard from all the Prime Minister’s associates “there are no such agreements”, “there is no agreement”, “we are not reaching an agreement on this matter”. We heard the same from President Andrzej Duda’s entourage. The Prime Minister’s associates told them to wait for a conference and explanations. We wait, but these explanations probably sound even worse than the agreement with Andrzej Duda.
— It was an administrative error. There are consequences. I will review the procedures so that such a situation does not happen again, Donald Tusk said after the government meeting. The official who prepared the document for signature did not understand the political nature of this appointment.
The documents for signing are being prepared by the head of the Government Legislation Center, Maciej Berek. He is one of Tusk’s most trusted people, having cooperated with the prime minister during his previous government. He will not be fired for a “mistake” because, as the prime minister says, “the government with him is better than without him.” However, the question is whether explaining some political agreement with the Presidential Palace would not be better for the government and the prime minister than talking about mistakes.
What follows from what we have heard? Although we are on the verge of the presidential campaign, during which the Civic Coalition will want to prove that Andrzej Duda is a party president who violates the Constitution and that his successor in the PiS will be the same, everyone has somehow lost the instinct for self-preservation and simply does not read what is coming from the Krakow suburbs in Aleje Ujazdowskie.
Holidays at the Prime Minister’s Chancellery
One would expect that every nomination sent by the president would be checked multiple times, that every letter would be read four times with the greatest attention, and if the name of the presidential candidate did not mean anything to the officials, someone would quickly call one of the judicial organizations to ask who it was. This was to be expected, but apparently the mood in the Prime Minister’s Office is not one of war, but of relaxation on vacation.
The prime minister’s supporters write on social media that the most important thing is to admit the mistake and apologize. Tusk has never had a problem with that. He has always been the best of all Polish political leaders at apologizing and showing that he was also wrong. The problem is that this mistake cannot be erased and Wesołowski cannot be fired. His appointment was published in Monitor Polski and that was that, period.
“It’s a slap in the face for us”
Firstly, the government missed the opportunity to play the president’s favourite game: “I won’t sign for you”. They could have done with Duda exactly what the president does, for example, in the case of ambassadors, only more effectively. Now they can’t. Secondly, it opens up a whole field of discussion about whether the new judges are judges or not, because if Tusk “hit” one of them, what exactly is the point? Thirdly, even on the threshold of another political season, he managed to irritate the circles of independent judges and representatives of other legal professions who have been fighting for the independence of the Polish judicial system for eight years.
They simply say “it’s a slap in the face” to us. Equally irritated are the most loyal fans of the government and the largest party in power, who seem to have slowly lost track of what the prime minister is talking about. And fourthly, in terms of image, this is a mistake that will be very difficult to get out of. After all, are we dealing with experienced politicians or novices who can be given any receipt to sign?
