Jarosław Kaczyński, the powerful head of Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party, has returned to government as deputy prime minister – a position that he resigned from just one year ago, Ednews informs via Reuters.
As chairman of PiS, Kaczyński was already regarded as Poland’s de facto leader. However, his return to government – which was accompanied by all four other deputy prime ministers resigning their positions – is seen as a way of bringing greater unity and discipline to the campaign for this autumn’s parliamentary elections.
In a ceremony at the presidential palace just after noon, President Andrzej Duda formally swore Kaczyński in as deputy prime minister while accepting the resignations of the four other deputy prime ministers: Jacek Sasin, Mariusz Błaszcak, Piotr Gliński and Henryk Kowalczyk.
Duda, a PiS ally, thanked Kaczyński for returning to the government during the current “difficult and dynamic times”, and ahead of the “approaching elections”.
The decision marks a significant U-turn. Just one year ago, Kaczyński resigned as deputy prime minister in order, he said, to focus on preparing PiS for this year’s parliamentary elections, at which the party is seeking an unprecedented third consecutive term in office.
However, recent weeks have seen signs of tension within the ruling camp and reports of frustration at the conduct of the election campaign. That resulted in PiS’s campaign chief, Tomasz Poręba, resigning his position on Friday. He was replaced by Joachim Brudziński, a figure seen as close to Kaczyński.