The opposition and the former Polish government criticised Prime Minister Donald Tusk for failing to keep his 100 election promises, despite his claims that his cabinet had done more than any other since the fall of communism, Euractiv reported.
A list of 100 election promises made by the Civic Coalition (KO, EPP) was widely seen as a response to repeated accusations that the party was simply seeking to overthrow the Law and Justice party (PiS, ECR). Promises included doubling the tax-free income threshold, proposing a 30% pay rise for teachers and ensuring that the European Commission unblocked EU funds frozen for Poland under the PiS government due to concerns over the rule of law.
However, Tusk succeeded on the rule-of-law issue as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised to allocate 137 million euros from the Next Generation and Cohesion Funds in response to the justice minister’s proposed judicial reforms.
According to various tracking tools, the Civic Coalition has already managed to fully or partially implement 14 promises. Tusk defended his government’s achievements:
“Those who accuse us of not having fulfilled all our commitments (…) are those who for the last three months have been doing everything to prevent changes.”
Despite the government change in Poland last December, some argued that the decision was made with unprecedented leniency, since the Polish judicial system remained largely unreformed. Witold Waszczykowski (PiS), MEP and former foreign minister, stated that the rule of law in Poland only deteriorated since PiS lost power.
The decision was based on what the previous government did. The government attempts to change the legal order with parliamentary resolutions that have no legal force.
Waszczykowski noted that most of the bills announced have not yet been introduced in parliament. However, while the Conservatives are pushing the social agenda, the Civic Coalition continues its “repair phase,” investigating PiS’s alleged abuse of power and mismanagement of funds.
Tusk has to balance good relations with the EU with his promises given to protesting farmers. He pointed out the shortcomings of the Green Deal policy and promised to revise it. Olgierd Annusewicz of the Centre for Political Analysis notes that the government’s actions are visible.
“Judging any government after 100 days is like judging a book after the first 40 pages. If it is interesting, we read on; if not, we put it down. But can we be sure that we will like the end if we like the beginning? Obviously not.”
