The new Polish government led by Donald Tusk safely won a confidence vote in the parliament late on December 12 but the special day became marred and the proceedings delayed by an anti-Semitic incident from a far-right MP.

The new centrist government of Civic Coalition, the Third Way, and the Left – which Tusk proposed be called the “October 15 Coalition” after the election date – was backed by 248 votes against 201 nays and no abstentions.

Earlier, Tusk outlined the priorities of his government, emphasising a clean break from the PiS era by restoring the rule of law and bringing together a nation divided by the eight years of PiS rule.

The new PM refrained from giving many specifics, focussing on broad strategic points instead.

The new government is very diverse and is set to face many obstacles put there by the outgoing Law and Justice (PiS) government, notably the entrenched position of PiS placemen in the judiciary, public media, central bank and state insitutions and companies.

Tusk underlined the importance of Poland being a member of Nato and in an alliance with the US. He also said that he was going end Poland's isolation in the EU and bring it back as “one of the EU leaders”, adding in reference to his stint as the European Council President that “no one in the EU can outplay me”.

To that end, Tusk said he would return from Brussels – where he is headed this week – with the money from the EU’s pandemic recovery fund, currently suspended in the wake of the previous government’s conflict over rule of law.

Tusk also cautioned the West against conceding that the war in Ukraine has become too overwhelming to guarantee further support to Kyiv. 

The PM also pledged his government will make sure that migration to Poland is under control yet the control along the “watertight eastern border” will be carried out with “respect to people”.

Tusk reiterated his campaign pledges on raising teachers’ pay by 30% from January and other government expenditure, which, he added, Poland can afford while the state finances remain sound.

The much-anticipated vote of confidence in the government was heavily delayed mid-way through the round of MP questions to the prime minister.

A far-right MP Grzegorz Braun used a fire extinguisher to snuff a Hanukkah menorah placed in the parliament’s corridors.

The incident caused a nearly two-hour delay in the proceedings, which resumed only after the Speaker of the parliament, Szymon Holownia, suspended the MP in question, Grzegorz Braun of the Konfederacja party. 

The Tusk government now has the last formality to clear before it begins work. President Andrzej Duda will swear in the new cabinet on the morning of December 13.

The Tusk government is made up of 26 ministers, including nine women.