Tusk reshuffle: Domański to become deputy PM as Pełczyńska-Nałęcz leaves cabinet

Pełczyńska-Nałęcz leaves the government

Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz announced on 22 October that she is leaving the government, and a successor will take over the Ministry of Funds and Regional Policy. Her deputy, Jan Szyszko, is also leaving the ministry. Journalist Jacek Nizinkiewicz said the conflict with Prime Minister Donald Tusk was not the only problem, since she lacked a political base and Polska 2050 has been losing ground. He separated her political skills from her record at the funds ministry, pointing to her role in the National Recovery Plan (Krajowy Plan Odbudowy), which he said the government failed to communicate to voters.

Domański set for deputy prime minister

Tusk said on 20 October that he would ask President Karol Nawrocki to appoint finance minister Andrzej Domański as deputy prime minister. Domański had survived a Sejm vote on a Law and Justice (PiS) motion to dismiss him, which the Sejm majority rejected. Nawrocki has been harshly critical of him, calling Domański the "worst finance minister in the history of the Third Republic" while in Podlasie. Nizinkiewicz described the nomination as a political trap Tusk has set for the president. He argued that refusing the nomination or dragging it out could strengthen the image of Nawrocki as a politician who escalates conflict with the government.

Presidential office on timing

Presidential spokesman Rafał Leśkiewicz told Polsat News on Tuesday, 27 October that the appointment of Domański and a new funds minister would take place at one ceremony once Tusk submits his request. Asked when this could happen, he said the wait would not be long.

“This will certainly not take long.”

Leśkiewicz framed the approach as a single event at the Presidential Palace.

“Let's settle this in one event, which will take place at the Presidential Palace.”

Another presidential spokesman, asked by TVN24, said the president "is not succumbing to time pressure". Leśkiewicz did not give an answer on the timing when asked twice by Rzeczpospolita.

Hołownia and the culture ministry

Szymon Hołownia wants to become culture minister with the rank of deputy prime minister. Marshal of the Sejm Włodzimierz Czarzasty, who also leads Nowa Lewica, said the coalition has nothing against that idea. Nizinkiewicz said Hołownia has lost part of his political credibility and that his shifting declarations make cooperation harder. He said a player in politics has to be predictable for partners. Earlier, government spokesman Adam Szłapka, Interior Minister Marcin Kierwiński and Tomasz Siemoniak had all said no reshuffle was planned.

Dispute over NBP board nominations

On Tuesday, 27 October, government spokesman Adam Szłapka said Tusk had not yet decided whether to countersign the president's requests to appoint new members of the National Bank of Poland (NBP) board.

“According to my knowledge, there is still no decision in this matter. The prime minister has not yet signed the countersignature.”

On 19 October, presidential chief of staff Paweł Szefernaker said Nawrocki had again sent Tusk the decisions appointing four board members for countersignature. Those are Marta Kightley, Przemysław Litwiniuk, Ludwik Kotecki and Marcin Zarzecki. In May the NBP said Tusk had returned the same four nominations without countersignature. Kightley has sat on the board since 2020, and her term ended in March this year. Kotecki and Litwiniuk have been Monetary Policy Council members since 2022, appointed by the Senate, while Zarzecki was appointed to that council by the president in December 2025. The board under Governor Adam Glapiński has seven members, while the law requires between six and eight. If the term of deputy governor Adam Lipiński is not extended in November and no new member is chosen, the board could fall below the legal minimum.