The motion had little chance of succeeding since the governing Law and Justice (PiS) party holds a majority in parliament.
Poland is “a proud, sovereign state” within Europe, said Prime Minister Beata Szydło ahead of the vote on Friday.
Grzegorz Schetyna, the head of the opposition Civic Platform (PO) and the party's candidate for prime minister, claimed that while PiS holds a majority in parliament, it does not have the support of a majority of Poles.
"Poles want a European Poland,” Schetyna said, “a safe and law-abiding Poland."
He added that Poles “want a Poland which is self-reliant, modern, honest, calm, stable and finally, most importantly, mentally stable.”
PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński, who does not hold an official position within Szydło’s cabinet, said that the government is doing a good job.
“We will not step down from repairing the Republic of Poland,” Kaczyński said. “Many in Poland and in Europe do not like our reforms,” he added.
Since coming to power in late 2015, the Polish government has been the subject of several European Parliament debates about the rule of law in the country, as well as changes to the media and rules related to the judiciary.
Addressing PO’s Schetyna, Kaczyński said: “I often get the impression that, when attacking us, you are referring to your own government, [which governed for] eight years.”
The motion against Prime Minister Szydło's PiS government was rejected by 238 deputies and backed by 174, with four abstentions.
The opposition needed 231 votes for the motion to pass. (vb/pk/rg)
Source: PAP