Future Polish president calls Tusk ‘worst prime minister since 1989’

Poland’s incoming president Karol Nawrocki on Thursday made it clear that he is planning to make life for Prime Minister Donald Tusk more than difficult, describing the premier as the “worst” the country has had since the fall of the Iron Curtain.

Nawrocki, a right-wing populist set to take office on August 6 after he beat a Tusk-backed candidate in a razor-thin run-off vote in June, said he was not ruling out meeting with Tusk, in comments to news the Polish agency PAP.

But he added: “It will perhaps come as no surprise to you that I am in no hurry at all to meet Prime Minister Donald Tusk, whom I consistently consider to be the worst prime minister since 1989.”

Nawrocki conceded, however, that the Polish public expects the heads of state and government to be in touch for the good of the country.

After the fall of the Iron Curtain, Tadeusz Mazowiecki in 1989 became the first non-communist prime minister of an eastern European country since World War II.

Tusk, 68, who previously served as the president of the European Council, has held the top job for more than nine years, making him the country’s longest serving prime minister to date.

In the ranks of rapidly changing prime ministers, the liberal Tusk (68) has the longest tenure as Prime Minister at over nine years; he was also President of the EU Council.

Nawrocki, 42, discussing his upcoming inauguration with parliamentary president Szymon Hołownia, said that he was planning to quickly implement his political agenda once in office, including tax cuts.