2026-04-16 18:30
publication
2026-04-16 18:30
By founding the association, Mateusz Morawiecki is playing for places on PiS lists for his people – says prof. Antoni Dudek. According to the political scientist, Jarosław Kaczyński will either quickly exclude Morawiecki from the party or start a showdown with him, which will be decided only when the electoral lists are compiled.
At the beginning of April, the vice-president of PiS and former prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki confirmed in an interview for wp.pl that he founded an association bringing together people who “don't like something in each of the political parties on the right: be it PiS, Confederation, or Braun's Crown of Poland.” After the interview was published, PiS president Jarosław Kaczyński met with Morawiecki to discuss the situation within the party. According to PAP information, the meeting was intended to “discipline” the former prime minister.
According to the media, Tuesday's meeting of the PiS Political Committee presidium concerned, among others, Morawiecki association, which is to be called “Rozwój Plus”. PiS spokesman Rafał Bochenek told PAP that most of the party's authorities expressed concern about the former prime minister's initiative.
In turn, on Thursday, Morawiecki, alongside the candidate for prime minister Przemysław Czarnek and other MPs, appeared at Jarosław Kaczyński's conference, during which the PiS president appealed to supporters for financial support for the party.
According to political scientist prof. Antoni Dudek, Morawiecki established the association to have “tougher” arguments in the fight for places for his people on the lists. – If he had not appointed him, there would be a risk that in the spring of 2027, when the lists will be finally formed, President Kaczyński would say: Mr. Mateusz, we already thank you, you can go with your people – said Dudek.
He pointed out that by founding the association, Morawiecki was checking Kaczyński, telling him: “I have a reserve party here, I don't have to establish it, but if you cut me and my people off the lists, we will turn it into a party.” According to Dudek, Morawiecki does not declare a split at this stage. – It ensures that people from the association will be loyal members of PiS, but at the same time it gives Kaczyński a signal that he and his people deserve good and numerous places on the lists – noted the political scientist.
According to Dudek, Morawiecki is prepared for variants: either he stays in PiS and when he has enough “sabres”, he fights for the leadership after Kaczyński, or he is thrown out and builds a new political force.
According to the political scientist, it is difficult to say how the game will end, and Kaczyński has two options to choose from: hard or soft. The first is “going to the collision”. – There will be a threat against members of the Morawiecki association: either you leave the association, or we will exclude you from the party – said Dudek. He noted that a “soft option” would be for Kaczyński to state that establishing the association is to expand PiS's base, and Prime Minister Morawiecki works for the party.
– I don't know what President Kaczyński will do, he's probably thinking feverishly now – said Dudek. – He is certainly trying to estimate possible losses, and the 40 MPs who have joined the association are a powerful force. If PiS was in power, it would certainly try to reach an agreement with them. Today, however, he is not in power, so he can blame Morawiecki for all the mistakes of the PiS government, present him as a traitor and an agent of Tusk who has been destroying the party for a long time, and throw him out – he added.
According to the political scientist, if Kaczyński chooses the “hard option”, it will happen quickly. – If there is no “execution” of Morawiecki in the coming days, it means that Kaczyński is starting a game with him, in which the decisive clash will take place in spring next year, when the lists will be prepared – Dudek noted. – I am leaning towards this option – he added. (PAP)
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