New Polish government wins customary vote of confidence
PR dla Zagranicy
Nick Hodge
19.11.2015 09:10
The newly-formed Polish government of Prime Minister Beata Szydło came through a customary vote of confidence on Wednesday night in the lower house of parliament.
Head of the Law and Justice party Jarosław Kaczyński (CR) kisses the hand of Prime Minister Beata Szydło (CL) following the vote of confidence. Photo: PAP/Radek Pietruszka
The vote followed the prime minister's inaugural policy statement, in which Szydło mapped out the government's aims for its first 100 days in office.
The socially conservative Law and Justice party had won an absolute majority in the 25 October general election, marking the first time since the fall of communism in 1989 that a government has been formed without a junior coalition partner. However, minority right-wing parties had been brought into the fold prior to the election.
Of the 456 MPS present, 202 voted against the government. These included not only MPs from the former centrist government led by Civic Platform (136) but also all of the MPs in the Kukiz'15 formation (40), a grouping that had been considered a potential ally of Law and Justice, prior to the election. The new centrist Modern party also voted against the government (28).
Meanwhile, the agrarian Polish People's Party, which had been the junior coalition partner in the last government, abstained (15). Ryszard Galla, the representative of the German minority, also abstained. (nh)
Source: PAP