New cabinet is sworn in
Prime Minister Donald Tusk sounded confident that his election programme would soon bring tangible results. He said that the ministers comprising his cabinet “are well prepared for their tasks and are people of integrity. I am convinced that while choosing election winners, most Poles voted not for a specific political party, but for the reinstatement of hope that the Polish public life and Polish politics may be based on fundamental values: trust, mutual respect and service for the people”. Prime Minister Tusk declared: “We will prove that Poland is home for all Poles, irrespective of their political views”. Addressing Polish President Lech Kaczyński, Donald Tusk said he was convinced that he and the President would develop a good working relationship. “Polish people are counting on the spirit of solidarity”, he said.
President Lech Kaczyński said: “The Polish nation is united by high hopes. The past two years have seen rapid economic growth and the creation of 1,000,000 new jobs. Unemployment was significantly reduced. But in line with election promises, Poland should achieve even more in terms of development. Growth should be even faster. It is an ambitious goal, but I wish the cabinet every success in meeting this goal. This success will be the country’s success.” According to observers, the Civic Platform (PO) – Polish Peasant Party (PSL) coalition will enjoy a comfortable majority in Parliament, where Law and Justice (PiS) and Left and Democrats (LiD) MPs fill the opposition benches.
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Prime Minister Donald Tusk is 50. He was born in the Baltic port city of Gdańsk, the cradle of Solidarity, the freedom movement that brought down communism in Poland. As a Gdańsk University student he joined underground opposition activities. He was one of the leaders of the workers’ strike that preceded the round table negotiations between the democratic opposition and the then communist authorities. In democratic Poland Tusk was the leader of the Liberal Democratic Congress, which later merged with another major party to form the mainstream Freedom Union. In 2001 he was the co-founder of the liberal Civic Platform, which in the same year became the biggest opposition party in Parliament. Tusk ran for presidency in 2005. In parliamentary elections on October 21, the Civic Platform won the largest number of seats in Parliament. Married with two children, Donald Tusk is known to be an avid football fan. |
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Other cabinet ministers in alphabetical order:
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