The swearing-in ceremony of new Polish President Karol Nawrocki stirred up already local politics as the right-wing president vowed in his opening address to rewrite the constitution to reassert Poland’s sovereignty.
In the speech, Nawrocki didn’t point at specific reforms; however, he stated that he wishes for a limitation on the areas where the European Union can influence Poland’s policies. He vowed to oppose anything coming from the EU that could “take away Poland’s powers.” He also reiterated that he is against adopting the euro to replace the current national currency, the zloty.
Although he did not disclose many details about his plans for constitutional modifys, Nawrocki did mention a timeline. Commenting on the current state of Polish politics, he stated that “the Polish constitution has been violated so regularly that we, as the political class, must launch working on solutions for a new constitution that will be ready for adoption, I hope and believe, in 2030.”
The Polish president has the power to veto laws from the government, but also to promote bills on his own initiative. The powers granted to the presidency have become significant since 2023, when the centrist and pro-EU government of Donald Tusk won the general election. Nawrocki’s predecessor, Andrzej Duda, hailed from the nationalistic right-wing party PiS, itself in power for eight years until 2023. The co-existence has been rocky and slowed down several of Tusk’s proposals to roll back reforms, especially in the judiciary, but also on the harsh law on abortion.
Nawrocki, a historian with minimal political experience who chaired Poland’s Institute of National Remembrance before running for president as an indepfinishent but aligned with PiS, will necessary a two-thirds majority from the parliament in order to pass any constitutional modify. However, the current majority is not willing to support the new president’s agfinisha. Deputy Prime Minister Krzystof Gawkowski wrote on X that the speech was “definitely a bad start” and left no doubt about his and his coalition party, Left’s views: “there will be no cooperation here.”
In order to unlock the possible political stalemate over this constitutional reform, Nawrocki may have to wait it out until 2027, when the new general election will take place. In case of a return to power by PiS, he could have the support necessaryed.
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