‘Weak’ PM to head Poland’s new conservative government: media

Polish media on Tuesday warned of the dangers of coupling a weak premier with a cabinet of hawks a day after prime-minister-in-waiting Beata Szydlo unveiled her new new conservative cabinet.

Szydlo is seen as the political protégé of Jaroslaw Kaczynski, head of Poland’s Law and Justice (PiS) conservatives who is widely accepted as the mastermind of all the party’s moves in the runup to and following its landmark election victory on October 25.

“A weak prime minister and a strong contingent of hawks,” Newsweek Poland said, referring to future defence minister Antoni Macierewicz, justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro and intelligence service coordinator Mariusz Kaminski.

“Beata Szydlo will be the prime minister of a government in which she will have very few of her own trusted allies,” warned Gazeta Wyborcza, Poland’s leading liberal daily which is deeply critical of the PiS.

All three are hardliners who touted theories about a vast conspiracy of communist-era intelligence agents undermining Poland’s interests while serving in the last PiS government, which held office between 2005-2007.

More recently, Macierewicz accused Russia of playing a role in the deadly 2010 crash of an official Polish jet that killed president Lech Kaczynski — Jaroslaw Kaczynski’s identical twin.

Veteran diplomat Witold Waszczykowski, her pick for foreign minister, has been variously described by as “eurosceptic”, “anti-Russian” and “pro-American”.

Several dailies were optimistic about the choice of Mateusz Morawiecki for development minister, a portfolio revamped by the PiS to cover economy, the treasury and state finances.

A banker who since 2007 has headed Bank Zachodni WBK — Poland’s third bank and part of the Santander group — Morawiecki is regarded as a sound financial manager for his success in weathering the global financial crisis.

“Superminister” read Tuesday’s headline on the “Puls Biznesu” financial daily, describing him as “a pro and a patriot”.