Third Cabinet of Mateusz Morawiecki

The third Cabinet of Mateusz Morawiecki was the caretaker government of Poland, headed by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, after his re-appointment by President Andrzej Duda on 27 November 2023.^[2] Two weeks later, on December 11, 2023, Morawiecki failed to receive a vote of confidence, with 266 of the 460 MPs voting against.^[3]

Third Cabinet of Mateusz Morawiecki
Council of Ministers of Poland
November – December 2023
Date formed	27 November 2023
Date dissolved	13 December 2023
People and organisations
President	Andrzej Duda
Prime Minister	Mateusz Morawiecki
No. of ministers	18[1]
Member parties	Law and Justice   Sovereign Poland   Renew PR   Republican Party   Polish Affairs
Status in legislature	Minority 191 / 460 (42%)
Opposition parties	Civic Coalition   Poland 2050   Polish People's Party   The Left   Confederation
Opposition leader	Donald Tusk
History
Election	2023 parliamentary election
Legislature term	10th Sejm & 11th Senate
Predecessor	Morawiecki II
Successor	Tusk III

The government was supported by the United Right coalition composed of Morawiecki's Law and Justice, Sovereign Poland and support from Renew PR, Polish Affairs and the Republican Party. It also had the support of some independent MPs. Members of Law and Justice and Sovereign Poland held cabinet posts.

It was formed in the aftermath of the 2023 Polish parliamentary election, in which the United Right lost the outright majority it had held since 2015. The United Right is 40 seats short of a majority in the chamber; all other groups in the Sejm have ruled out cooperation with United Right, making it mathematically impossible for Morawiecki to form a majority government.^[4] The four main opposition parties–Civic Coalition, Poland 2050, Polish People's Party, and The Left–stated their intent to oppose Morawiecki and instead support a government headed by former Prime Minister and European Council President Donald Tusk. The four parties signed a coalition agreement on 10 November and agreed to put Tusk forward as their candidate for prime minister; between them, they command a majority in the Sejm.^[5][6][7]

The move by Duda to designate Morawiecki as prime minister even though he lacked enough support in the Sejm was criticized by opposition and some media as an attempt to delay the transition of power for as long as possible. Duda insisted that he upheld longstanding convention by inviting the largest party to form a government.^{[8][9][10][11]}

Mateusz Morawiecki's third government included the largest number of women in Poland's history with 10 out of the 18 ministers being female.^[12]

Morawiecki's third government was dubbed the "two-week" or "zombie government" by various media,^[13][14][15] due to its anticipated short-livedness.

Morawiecki's proposed cabinet lost a vote of no confidence in the Sejm on 11 December by 190 votes to 266, paving the way for the Sejm to propose Donald Tusk as its nominee for prime minister. Tusk's nomination as Prime Minister was subsequently confirmed by the Sejm, with 248 votes in favour and 201 against.^[16] Morawecki's government remained in a caretaker role, until Tusk's newly-assembled government was officially sworn in on 13 December.

Cabinet

Office	Name	Party		In office
				From	To
Prime Minister	Mateusz Morawiecki		Law and Justice	27 November 2023[17]	13 December 2023
Minister without portfolio	Izabela Antos [pl]		Independent	27 November 2023[18]	13 December 2023
Minister of National Defence	Mariusz Błaszczak		Law and Justice	27 November 2023[18]	13 December 2023
Minister of Family and Social Policy	Dorota Bojemska [pl]		Independent	27 November 2023[18]	13 December 2023
Minister of Culture and National Heritage	Dominika Chorosińska		Law and Justice	27 November 2023[18]	13 December 2023
Chairwoman of the Public Benefit Committee				27 November 2023[18]	13 December 2023
Minister of Sport and Tourism	Danuta Dmowska-Andrzejuk		Independent	27 November 2023[18]	13 December 2023
Minister of Infrastructure	Alvin Gajadhur [pl]		Independent	27 November 2023[18]	13 December 2023
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development	Anna Gembicka		Law and Justice	27 November 2023[18]	13 December 2023
Minister of Funds and Regional Policy	Małgorzata Jarosińska-Jedynak		Independent	27 November 2023[18]	13 December 2023
Minister of Finance	Andrzej Kosztowniak		Law and Justice	27 November 2023[18]	13 December 2023
Minister of Health	Ewa Krajewska [pl]		Independent	27 November 2023[18]	13 December 2023
Minister of Climate and Environment	Anna Łukaszewska-Trzeciakowska		Independent	27 November 2023[18]	13 December 2023
Minister of Economic Development and Technology	Marlena Maląg		Law and Justice	27 November 2023[18]	13 December 2023
Minister of State Assets	Marzena Małek [pl]		Independent	27 November 2023[18]	13 December 2023
Minister without portfolio	Jacek Ozdoba		Sovereign Poland	27 November 2023[18]	13 December 2023
Minister of Education and Higher Education	Krzysztof Szczucki [pl]		Law and Justice	27 November 2023[18]	13 December 2023
Minister of Interior and Administration	Paweł Szefernaker		Law and Justice	27 November 2023[18]	13 December 2023
Minister of Foreign Affairs	Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk		Law and Justice	27 November 2023[18]	13 December 2023
Minister of Justice	Marcin Warchoł		Sovereign Poland	27 November 2023[18]	13 December 2023

Vote of confidence

Vote of confidence in the Third Cabinet of Mateusz Morawiecki
Ballot →		11 December 2023
Required majority →		229 out of 456 N
	Votes in favour • PiS (187) • Kukiz'15 (3)	190 / 456
	Votes against • KO (157) • PSL (33) • PL2050 (32) • Lewica (26) • KWiN (18)	266 / 456
Source

References

1. "Rada Ministrów - Gov.pl - Portal Gov.pl". Gov.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2023-11-27. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
2. "Uroczystość powołania przez Prezydenta RP nowego rządu". Oficjalna strona Prezydenta Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej (in Polish). 2023-11-27. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
3. "Głosowanie nr 102 na 1. posiedzeniu Sejmu" (in Polish). 2023-12-11. Archived from the original on 2023-12-18. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
4. "Prezydent wszystkich Polaków (którzy głosowali na PiS)". wiadomosci.onet.pl (in Polish). 6 November 2023. Archived from the original on 6 November 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
5. "Opposition wins Polish election, according to exit poll". POLITICO. 2023-10-15. Archived from the original on 2023-10-15. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
6. Picheta, Rob (2023-10-15). "Poland's opposition has path to oust populist ruling party, exit poll shows". CNN. Archived from the original on 2023-10-15. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
7. Easton, Adam (10 November 2023). "Poland's Tusk-led pro-EU opposition signs deal and waits to govern". BBC. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 10 November 2023.
8. "PiS chce ukraść opozycji miodowy miesiąc. Ile jeszcze potrwa to gnębienie?". Rzeczpospolita (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2023-11-28. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
9. "Niemieckie media o sytuacji w Polsce: Kabaret". Do Rzeczy (in Polish). 2023-11-27. Archived from the original on 2023-12-18. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
10. "Światowe media komentują powierzenie premierowi misji tworzenia rządu". wnp.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2023-11-28. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
11. "Prezydent wszystkich Polaków (którzy głosowali na PiS)". wiadomosci.onet.pl (in Polish). 6 November 2023. Archived from the original on 6 November 2023. Retrieved 6 November 2023.
12. Daria Onisk (27 November 2023). "Premier Morawiecki powołał rząd. Stery przejmie nowa gwardia. "Ponad połowę będą stanowiły kobiety"". bankier.pl. Archived from the original on 2023-11-28. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
13. "Prezydent powoła "rząd dwutygodniowy"". wyborcza.pl (in Polish). Archived from the original on 2023-11-28. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
14. "Poland's zombie government shuffles into being". wyborcza.pl (in Polish). 27 November 2023. Archived from the original on 2023-11-28. Retrieved 2023-11-27.
15. "Polens Präsident vereidigt PiS-Regierung trotz fehlender Mehrheit". tagesschau.de (in German). Archived from the original on 2023-11-28. Retrieved 2023-11-28.
16. Koper, Anna; Wlodarczak-Semczuk, Anna (11 December 2023). "Donald Tusk appointed Polish PM, setting stage for warmer EU ties". Reuters. Archived from the original on 11 December 2023. Retrieved 14 December 2023.
17. M.P. z 2023 r. poz. 1287.
18. M.P. z 2023 r. poz. 1288.