President Karol Nawrocki “for some reason” preferred to withdraw from the invitation for now, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Friday evening when asked about a planned one-on-one meeting with the president. The head of the government said this is certainly not the last attempt and that the meeting will probably happen in the future.
Leaving the Sejm, Poland’s lower house of parliament, on Friday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk made remarks to reporters, in which he addressed, among other things, a question about a meeting with President Karol Nawrocki.
– The president for some reason preferred to withdraw from the invitation for now, but this is certainly not the last attempt, and we will probably meet in the future – Tusk said.
Tusk was also asked how the conversation with the president went on the sidelines of Tuesday’s National Security Council (RBN) meeting. He said that he first stated that “it would be good to meet,” and then the president “confirmed that it would be good to meet.”
– Then, in the corridors, I asked (him) how we should go about it, and the president said he would send a text message with a proposed place and date. That’s all – the prime minister said.
Tusk had been asked earlier what was in the president’s text message about a meeting on the situation surrounding the Constitutional Tribunal (TK). The prime minister avoided giving a clear answer. Asked about the tone of the president’s message, he replied only that it was “very cordial.”
Tusk was pressed on whether nothing will come of his meeting with the president.
– I’ve been wondering, and I think I have my own theory as to why the president is afraid of this meeting for now. But perhaps that fear will pass – Tusk said. – I won’t say any more – he added when pressed for details of that theory.
The prime minister was also asked about the idea of a “reset” of the Constitutional Tribunal, which Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, leader of the Polish People’s Party (PSL), had presented earlier. He did not answer the question of how likely, in percentage terms, a reset in such a form is. He only smiled and replied, “thank you.”
The prime minister also addressed the Tribunal issue in answering a question about the no-confidence vote against Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński.
– Unfortunately, the Sejm very often sees the same grotesque undertakings as the one outside the Tribunal. As I jokingly remarked, all that’s missing is singing and the selling of pots and watches. But I don’t want to mock anymore. Every such vote is a display of impotence on the part of Law and Justice (PiS) – he said.
After Tuesday’s meeting of the National Security Council, at which the situation in the Constitutional Tribunal was among the topics discussed, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he had offered President Karol Nawrocki a meeting this week “to consider how to durably lower tensions in the country.” During the public part of the council meeting, Nawrocki said that the situation in the Tribunal had led to a serious constitutional crisis.
On Friday, Zbigniew Bogucki, head of the Chancellery of the President (KPRP), wrote on X that he had spoken with Jan Grabiec about a meeting between the president and the prime minister. As he related, he presented “the position of the President of Poland, presented during the RBN: police cordons leave the grounds of the TK, legal judges enter the TK.” On Friday in the Sejm, Jan Grabiec said in turn that Bogucki “spoke about some preconditions that should be met.” He said this is not the right approach, because “the president of Poland and the prime minister should be able to talk without setting preconditions.” (PAP)
