(CN) — Donald Tusk, a 66-year-old center-right stalwart of Polish and European politics, was set to take over as Poland's prime minister on Tuesday, ending the eight-year reign of a hard-right nationalist government in Warsaw that had become a major thorn in the side of Brussels.
Tusk won a vote of confidence in the Sejm, the Polish Parliament, on Tuesday evening and he was expected to get sworn in Wednesday. He previously served two terms as prime minister between 2007 and 2014 before leading the European Council, where he played a pivotal role in negotiations with the United Kingdom over Brexit.
For many city-dwelling liberal Poles, his return to power in Warsaw was hailed as a massive relief and promised to swing Poland back in a pro-European Union direction after eight years of ultra-conservative rule by Law and Justice, a party backed mostly by rural and small-town voters who felt left behind by Poland's post-communist economic liberalization and modernization.
During its eight years in power, Law and Justice came under furious attack from many in Brussels for being a danger to Polish and even European democracy. Warsaw faced EU sanctions for its actions to overhaul Poland's judicial system, oppose EU laws and rules, curb abortion rights, turn state media into propaganda outlets and reject asylum seekers.
With so many Poles upset at Law and Justice, Tusk returned to Polish politics after his stint in Brussels and led a broad coalition of conservative and liberal parties that set aside ideological differences to bring down Law and Justice at October parliamentary elections.
And Tusk succeeded. In the elections, Law and Justice, which is commonly known by its Polish initials PiS, took in the most votes but fell short of obtaining a majority. It won 35.4% of the ballot.
Since it won the most votes, Law and Justice was given the first chance to form a government, an effort that predictably came to an end Monday when it was forced to seek a vote of confidence in the Sejm. It lost that vote 266-190 and on Monday night the Parliament handed Tusk the opportunity to form a government.
Tusk's center-right Civic Platform will govern with the conservative Third Way and liberal New Left. Civic Platform got 30.7% of the ballot in October while Third Way and New Left picked up 14.4% and 8.6% respectively. All three parties are pro-EU.
The election saw the highest turnout since the end of communism and Law and Justice's defeat was hailed as a much-needed bright spot for those in Europe worried about a rise in far-right forces across the bloc.
However, hopes that the return of Tusk signaled a wider shift away from the far right in Europe were dashed in November when elections in the Netherlands saw one of Europe's prominent far-right leaders, Geert Wilders, take in the most votes. He is attempting to form a government.
In a speech before the Sejm Tuesday morning, Tusk called the October election a “peaceful rebellion for freedom and democracy” and vowed to bring Poland back into the mainstream of EU politics.
“An alienated Poland is a Poland exposed to the greatest risks,” Tusk said.
This was a reference to how Warsaw was scorned by EU leaders under the PiS leadership. Brussels even delayed and blocked billions of dollars in coronavirus recovery funds slated for Poland because of its refusal to undo judicial reforms deemed unlawful by EU courts.
“This madness, this embarrassment of ourselves, could have cost us more than ridicule. But I can guarantee you that we will make Poland return to its rightful place,” Tusk said, as reported by the Guardian newspaper.
Tusk also accused the former government of racist policies and rhetoric against asylum-seekers.
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