Presidential visit in Kulesze Kościelne

President Karol Nawrocki met residents of Kulesze Kościelne and Wysokomazowiecki county on Wednesday, 21 October, and used the meeting to call for deep dialogue and discussion between the presidential office and the Polish government. He said the talks should cover problems at county, voivodeship and nationwide level, not only one tier of administration. According to the president, the government side is not ready for talks on fundamental matters, and he said he has no one to hold such a conversation with.

“I need dialogue today, but unfortunately I have no one to conduct it with. I have no one to talk to about Polish matters.”

Budget deficit and local governments

Nawrocki put public finances first among the issues he raised, calling the shortfall a hole that cannot wait for a change of government. He cited a budget deficit of 172.2 billion zloty at the end of September and said it is worrying regardless of which government holds power in the coming years. The strain is felt most by local governments, he argued, because they are handed new tasks while the money does not follow. He gave tasks coming from the Ministry of National Education as an example. The president also recalled investment made in earlier years under the Strategic Investment Programme, which he said financed water supply, sewage systems, roads and public institutions in one municipality and across its county. Today, he said, the state deficit is forcing similar projects to be cut back.

“The public finance hole cannot wait for a change of management, and we need to start discussing it.”

Borrowing and the deputy prime minister appointment

Nawrocki also said it is worrying that the state is borrowing on a massive scale. On Tuesday evening, 20 October, Prime Minister Donald Tusk said he had signed a motion asking the president to appoint Finance and Economy Minister Andrzej Domański as deputy prime minister. Under the constitution, the president appoints members of the Council of Ministers on the prime minister's request. Nawrocki linked the budget debate to this move, saying the problem must be solved immediately and not through a promotion for the person responsible for it. He added that the matter must be fixed as quickly as possible, because the home is suffering and will continue to suffer.

“It is worrying that we are borrowing on a massive scale.”

What remains open

The coverage does not report any presidential decision on the prime minister's request, so the appointment is still pending in the reporting. Nawrocki's remarks on the deficit and on tasks imposed on local governments were made at a single meeting with residents. The articles do not say what follow-up talks, if any, are planned between the presidential office and the government.