Elections 2023. The president entrusted Mateusz Morawiecki with the mission of forming a government. What are the scenarios for electing a government?

In Monday’s message Andrzej Duda confirmed that he had decided to entrust the mission of forming a government Mateusz Morawieckiand he will appoint the senior marshal who will lead the first session of the Sejm of the 10th term Marek Sawicki from the Polish People’s Party.

READ MORE ABOUT THE PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE

Conducted on October 15 elections parliamentary won Law and Justice, however, there is no parliamentary majority – the party gathered 194 seats, with a minimum of 231 seats needed for a majority. Such a majority can be created by the Civic Coalition, Third Way and the Left, which have a total of 248 seats.

Mateusz Morawiecki, the candidate for prime minister proposed today by the president, in the first constitutional step leading to the appointment of a new government, must, within 14 days from the first sitting of the Sejm on November 13, obtain a vote of confidence. This means support by an absolute parliamentary majority (the number of votes “for” is greater than the number of votes against and abstentions) in the presence of at least half of the statutory number of deputies.

If this attempt was unsuccessful, in the second step, the Sejm takes the initiative. In this case, the new prime minister and his government also need it absolute majority of votes in the presence of at least half of the statutory number of deputies. If such a vote is successful, the president cannot refuse to appoint and swear in the government so elected.

However, if the MPs failed to form a government, in the third step leading to the appointment of a new government, the initiative returns to the president, and a simple majority is needed for a vote of confidence. If this option fails, the president will order new parliamentary elections.

The difference between an absolute majority and a simple majority is fundamental: in the latter, abstentions are not taken into account. In both cases, however, for the vote in the Sejm to be valid, the quorum rule must be met: at least half of the statutory number of deputies (i.e. at least 230) must be present in the room during the vote.

So far, governments were appointed in the first constitutional step – with the exception of the government of Marek Belka, which in 2004 received a vote of confidence only in the third step. On June 24, 2004, the government received a vote of confidence by a simple majority of votes and at the same time by a majority of the Sejm (236 MPs were in favor).

READ MORE IN KONKRET24: Minority governments have already existed and ruled

On November 13, the day of the first session of the Sejm, the new Senate will also meet. The meeting of the upper house will be opened by the president, who will then appoint the oldest senator, customarily titled senior marshal, as the chairman of the first session.

The Senior Marshal will take the oath and appoint three secretaries of the first session from among the youngest senators, and then take the senatorial oath and elect the Marshal of the Senate.

The senator elected to the position of marshal will then submit a declaration of acceptance of the function, and will then take over the chairmanship of the meeting from the senior marshal. During the first meeting, the deputy speakers of the chamber and its secretaries are also elected.

In the new Senate, Civic Coalition candidates won 41 seats. Law and Justice won 34 seats. Trzecia Droga filled 11 seats, and a New Left – 9. 5 people also entered the Senate, running from their own electoral committees.