Donald Tusk elected Polish PM by parliament

WARSAW, Dec 12: Donald Tusk was elected as Poland's prime minister in a parliamentary vote on Monday evening, following the outgoing government's failure to secure a vote of confidence.

Tusk won 248 votes in favor of his candidacy for the position in the Sejm, the lower house of Poland's parliament. He was supported by the country's three biggest opposition groupings: the Civic Coalition, the Third Way and the New Left. A total of 201 Members of Parliament voted against him, but there were no abstentions.

The Sejm voted for Tusk just hours after previous prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki failed to win a vote of confidence.

Poland held its parliamentary elections on Oct. 15, when the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party won most of the votes, but fell short of a majority in the Sejm.

Morawiecki, the prime minister candidate from the socially conservative PiS party, was tasked on Nov. 27 by President Andrzej Duda with forming a government.

However, his government was rejected by 266 votes to 190 on Monday afternoon, which put an end to eight years of rule by the PiS party.

Tusk is set to present his cabinet to the parliament before walking through a vote of confidence in the Sejm on Tuesday. The swearing-in ceremony for the new prime minister is likely to take place on Wednesday.