Poland‘s ruling conservatives on Monday presented the president with a minority government, which most observers believe is unlikely to get enough votes from lawmakers.
If the line-up fails to get the green light from parliament, it will be the turn of the pro-EU liberals led by ex-premier Donald Tusk to form a government.
The right-wing Law and Justice (PiS) party emerged first after the October 15 general election, but without a clear majority and with little chance to forge a coalition.
“We are fulfilling the constitutional custom of naming a government presented by the party that won the elections,” President Andrzej Duda said after ministers were presented at a formal ceremony.
Opposition leader Donald Tusk’s liberal Civic Coalition bloc finished second but together with two minor parties — the centrist Third Way and the Left — secured a majority of 248 lawmakers in the 460-seat parliament.
Duda, who is allied with the conservatives, had tasked the PiS with a first attempt at forming the new government.
The cabinet presented Monday features a few well-known names, including Mariusz Blaszczak staying on as defence minister.
Half of the cabinet members would be women.
The parliament — controlled by Tusk’s pro-EU alliance — now has two weeks to vote on the PiS minority government.
The PiS is widely expected to lose that vote as it only has 194 seats in parliament and observers have noted the lack of viable coalition partners.
Tusk, who is a former prime minister and ex-head of the European Council, has accused Duda of “playing for time” by giving the PiS a chance to form the government.
“Like I said, they’re going to want to steal another couple of days,” Tusk told supporters at a rally earlier this month.
He claimed the move “will not change anything”, suggesting that he himself would ultimately become the head of government again.
Tusk had been the prime minister until 2014. The following year the PiS won the general election and has been in power ever since.
