Former Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki wants to take over as leader of the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) party currently held by Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Euractiv reports.
Earlier this month, Polish magazine Wprost reported that the former prime minister could reach a deal with Meloni to replace her as ECR chairman. However, according to the latest report from the tabloid Fakt, nothing has been decided yet. A source close to Morawiecki told Fakt:
“Negotiations are ongoing. The chances are 50/50. Nothing is settled yet.”
The source also said that Meloni “does not want to resign” as ECR leader and the Polish side is trying to change her mind. Neither the ECR nor Morawiecki’s PiS party had responded to Euractiv’s request for comment at the time of publication of this article.
If Morawiecki wins the ECR presidency, it would strengthen his party’s position among the European right after last year’s defeat at the hands of a broad centre-left coalition led by former European Council President Donald Tusk (Civic Platform, EPP).
The ECR president’s position could be a source of consolation for Morawiecki if he is not chosen as the candidate of his PiS party in next year’s Polish presidential election, Fakt notes.
With President Andrzej Duda due to complete his second term in 2025 and Poland’s constitution prohibiting him from being re-elected, PiS is looking for a new candidate, and according to Polish media, Morawiecki is one of the names being considered.
Other potential party presidential candidates include MEPs Patryk Jaki and Tobiasz Bocheński, former defence minister Mariusz Błaszczak and former education minister Przemysław Czarnek, who was responsible for controversial school reform plans.
Bocheński, who was a local politician before winning an MEP mandate in June, is PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński’s new favourite, while Jaki, Błaszczak and Czarnek are polar figures popular with PiS voters.
The candidate is likely to appear at the PiS congress in September or early October, where Kaczyński is expected to announce his name.
A candidate from the ruling coalition has also not been announced, and Prime Minister Donald Tusk has ruled out the possibility of running for president. He lost the 2005 presidential election to the then PiS candidate, Kaczynski’s twin brother Lech Kaczyński, who died in a tragic plane crash near Smolensk in 2010.
