Bobko
7 Jun 2025
News / Karol Nawrocki - the New President of Poland [381]
De Gaulle famously said that "the graveyards are full of irreplaceable men."
Tusk has played a trick on your brain.
If somebody asked me (nobody is asking me), I would say that Sikorski would make a potentially good president, but a poor prime minister.
He's respected internationally, is experienced in foreign policy, is polished and erudite and as such creates a positive impression of Poland abroad. Good qualities for the presidency. At the same time, he's arrogant, married to an American Jew, feels more comfortable as a think tank panel member than talking to farmers... and as such probably not a "President of all Poles".
For the role of prime minister you need an able technocrat. Somebody who can navigate the Sejm and Brussels equally. Someone who can command the respect of his Council of Ministers, many of whom are large political personalities in their own right. He has to be skilled at coalition building, and capable at pushing through his policies. This is not Sikorski. Tusk certainly fills this role almost perfectly, and that's probably why you say he's indispensable. But he's a political corpse.
This is why, when choosing from the centre-left, I think the obvious choice is Trzaskowski. Yes, he lost the presidential elections twice - and as such may be fundamentally cursed... However, he's manager of the largest city in the country - showing he's able to navigate complex bureaucracies without them imploding. He may not be particularly charismatic (as evidenced by his presidential losses), but neither was Szydlo or Morawiecki.
Tusk can go behind the curtains, and parallel Kaczynski, and stop being an anchor on his party's electoral prospects.
I'm afraid there's noone who could replace him (or at least I'm not aware of such a person).
De Gaulle famously said that "the graveyards are full of irreplaceable men."
Tusk has played a trick on your brain.
If somebody asked me (nobody is asking me), I would say that Sikorski would make a potentially good president, but a poor prime minister.
He's respected internationally, is experienced in foreign policy, is polished and erudite and as such creates a positive impression of Poland abroad. Good qualities for the presidency. At the same time, he's arrogant, married to an American Jew, feels more comfortable as a think tank panel member than talking to farmers... and as such probably not a "President of all Poles".
For the role of prime minister you need an able technocrat. Somebody who can navigate the Sejm and Brussels equally. Someone who can command the respect of his Council of Ministers, many of whom are large political personalities in their own right. He has to be skilled at coalition building, and capable at pushing through his policies. This is not Sikorski. Tusk certainly fills this role almost perfectly, and that's probably why you say he's indispensable. But he's a political corpse.
This is why, when choosing from the centre-left, I think the obvious choice is Trzaskowski. Yes, he lost the presidential elections twice - and as such may be fundamentally cursed... However, he's manager of the largest city in the country - showing he's able to navigate complex bureaucracies without them imploding. He may not be particularly charismatic (as evidenced by his presidential losses), but neither was Szydlo or Morawiecki.
Tusk can go behind the curtains, and parallel Kaczynski, and stop being an anchor on his party's electoral prospects.