THE head of Poland’s governing conservatives, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, will today return to the cabinet as deputy prime minister, the government spokesman said ahead of this year’s general election.  

The 74-year-old has been widely regarded as Poland’s de facto leader since his Law and Justice (PiS) party came to power in 2015.  

According to observers, Kaczynski’s return is meant to bring stability to the government, which has been plagued by internal conflicts, and prepare the conservatives for the election, which will likely place in October. 

“This is an important reinforcement ahead of the election and a clear message that we are fighting for victory,” government spokesman Piotr Muller told state television.  

He said Kaczynski will become the sole deputy prime minister.   

Up until now there had been four deputy premiers in the cabinet. They all resigned from their posts but remain members of the cabinet.  

Later today, President Andrzej Duda is due to officially appoint Kaczynski, who had previously served as a deputy prime minister in charge of security in October 2020 to June 2022.   

“Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s role will be different from the one last time,” said Jacek Sasin, one of the deputy premiers who resigned.  

“As of now he will coordinate all of the government’s work… Mateusz Morawiecki remains prime minister,” he added.   

In the run-up to the autumn election, the PiS is polling first, but the main opposition party, Civic Platform (PO), has been gaining ground.  

According to an opinion survey carried out this month by the CBOS institute, the PiS had 33% of support, while the PO had 27% – an increase of four percentage points compared with the previous poll.  

The far-right Confederation party had 8% support while both the leftists and a coalition between the centrist Poland 2050 party and the PSL farmers received 5% of support. – AFP, June 21, 2023.