On Monday evening on 2 June, a day after the 2nd circular of the presidential election, Prime Minister Donald Tusk is to comment on the failure of Rafał Trzaskowski and Karol Nawrocki's victory. No 1 knows precisely what the head of government will say. It is said that the leader of the Coalition on October 15 so far has not commented on the results and on Sunday has left Trzaskovsky's election evening rather quickly.
In the opinion of the media and commentators during the evening speech, the Prime Minister will most likely announce that he will ask the Sejm for a vote of assurance in his government. specified a request, according to the law, may be made at any time by the Prime Minister.
What is simply a vote of assurance in the government? Donald Tusk is to address the Sejm.
The vote of assurance is 1 of the fundamental mechanisms of parliamentary control in democratic systems. Its aim is to check whether the government (or the single minister) enjoys the support of the majority of Members.
In the simplest terms, the vote of assurance is simply a political act in which Parliament expresses its support for the government or its individual members. It is so a green light for the government to proceed its activities. The deficiency of specified support, i.e. failure to give a vote of confidence, usually leads to the collapse of the government and the request to appoint a fresh council of ministers or to set up early elections.
When and how is the vote of assurance given?
The procedures related to the vote of assurance vary according to the national constitution and parliamentary traditions. In Poland, a vote of assurance is required primarily erstwhile establishing a fresh government.
After the election or in the event of the collapse of the erstwhile government, the recently appointed Prime Minister and his cabinet must get a vote of assurance from the parliament. According to the Constitution, specified a resolution must appear until 14 days after the president has appointed the government. In order to pass it, an absolute majority of votes (the votes "for" exceed the number of another votes – the opposing and the abstentions).
In the absence of a majority, the government resigns and the Sejm must find a fresh candidate for Prime Minister within the next 14 days. In the event of another failure, this initiative returns to the President.
What is different, on the another hand, is simply a vote of assurance at the Prime Minister's request, which may at any time ask Parliament to express it in order to confirm its support, e.g. in the face of a political crisis, crucial reforms, but besides to discipline its own parliamentary background.
In this situation, the Sejm grants a vote of assurance by a simple majority (more votes "in favour" than the opposite, without taking into account the abstentions), in the presence of at least half the statutory number of Members. The deficiency of support from the Sejm for the proposal obliges the Prime Minister to resign to the President.
Let us add that in the past of the III Republic six times the Prime Minister has acted on his own initiative on a vote of confidence, of which the Tusk Government (2012 and 2014) was twice involved. In all cases, the Sejm gave a vote of assurance to the ruling.
Differences between the vote of trust and the vote of distrust
Although both mechanisms are similar, they have opposing goals. A vote of assurance is usually initiated by the Prime Minister (or is mandatory after the appointment of a government) and aims to confirm support for the government.
The vote of distrust against the Council of Ministers, on the another hand, is initiated by Members (at least 46) and aims to revoke the government or minister. In the Polish parliamentary system, there is simply a alleged constructive vote of distrust, which means that together with the request to dismiss the Prime Minister, the candidate for his successor should be named. To pass a vote of distrust, a majority of the statutory number of Members is needed – a minimum of 231.
According to Onetu sources, Prime Minister Tusk was to announce before the 2nd circular of the presidential election that he would apply for a vote of assurance in the event of Nawrocki's victory. This, in turn, would cut speculation on the possible shortening of the coalition government's word of office on October 15.
