Ruling Party Deliberates Strategy After Major Election Setback

RMF FM reports that the top brass of Poland's ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party agreed on a strategy to regain power after the latest election setback, which boils down to delaying works on the next budget and trying to drive a wedge between members of the incoming parliamentary coalition. This comes after a DGP piece noted that PiS decided against challenging the results of the elections in courts.

• In the meantime, Law and Justice is expected to go through the motions of government formation, should President Andrzej Duda give them a chance to do so. The party confirmed that incumbent Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki is their candidate to lead the next government.
• Paradoxically, if the President asks Morawiecki to form government (which seems to be the baseline scenario for most watchers), it could undermine the current Premier's already fragile position within PiS. He would need to go through the humiliating process of futile negotiations, before facing a certain rejection by parliament.
• The decline in Morawiecki's status, who represents a relatively moderate, market-friendly faction within the right-wing PiS, would open up space for alternative factional leaders to try and expand their influence in the party, which is poised to be a strong opposition force and to remain a contender for power going forward.
• According to RMF FM radio, PiS leaders have decided that the best strategy for returning to power would be to delay the adoption of 2024 budget and try to divide the pro-EU coalition. The past few days have seen PiS officials trying to court conservative lawmakers from PSL, which is part of the Third Way alliance.