Polish PM wins confidence vote
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — Poland’s new prime minister, Donald Tusk, won a confidence vote in parliament Saturday — the final step in the installation of his government, which plans to withdraw troops from Iraq next year and push for the quick adoption of the euro.
The 460-member lower house, or Sejm, voted 238-204, with two abstentions, to support the coalition government, made up of Tusk’s Civic Platform and the Polish People’s Party of Waldemar Pawlak, the new deputy prime minister.
The two parties hold 240 seats.
Civic Platform won October 21 elections, but was short of a majority to govern on its own and turned to the centrist People’s Party.
Tusk’s government replaces the nationalist, conservative administration of previous Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski.
Tusk outlined ambitious plans for the next four years in his inaugural address Friday, saying he planned to withdraw troops from Iraq next year but also push for stronger relations with NATO.
In a three-hour speech to parliament, he laid out a vision for the country that includes more capitalism — privatization, tax cuts and simplifying business laws — to bolster the economy of this ex-communist country.
While Tusk and his Civic Platform party want to continue the strong friendship with the U.S., he gave a taste of plans that, taken together, would suggest that the country plans to assert more independence in its relations with Washington.
Tusk said that, by the end of next year, Poland would withdraw its 900 troops from Iraq, where it leads an international contingent of about 2,000 soldiers from 10 nations in the south-central part of the country.
We will carry out that operation with the conviction that we have done more than what our allies — especially the U.S. — had expected from us, he said.
Tusk’s call for a pullout came as no surprise. He campaigned on promises to end the unpopular mission, clashing on the issue with his opponent, then-incumbent Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who argued that withdrawing would amount to desertion.
His twin brother, President Lech Kaczynski, who is the armed forces’ commander in chief, supports staying in Iraq longer had the power to authorize foreign military missions. But he cannot unilaterally extend a mission the government wants to end.
Poland’s mission in Iraq has the president’s authorization until the end of the year. Tusk and the president will have to hold talks to decide when and how to end the mission.
Tusk said he planned to keep Poland’s 1,200-member force in Afghanistan next year.
Tusk also said he will resume talks with the U.S. on accepting a U.S. missile defense base in Poland — but only after consulting with NATO and other neighboring countries — signaling a greater hesitancy over the plan than the previous government.
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