Cabinet reshuffle in Poland with new climate, agriculture, development and sports ministers

Poland’s government has today undergone a long-anticipated reshuffle, with two ministers being replaced, one empty ministerial post being filled, and another ministry being recreated just a year after it was abolished.

The changes come following a period of flux, in which a junior partner party left the national-conservative ruling coalition. Commentators have also suggested that the personnel changes signal a weakening of the position of the prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki.

Despite formally being head of government, in practice Morawiecki is under the authority of Jarosław Kaczyński, chairman of the Law and Justice (PiS) party that dominates the ruling coalition. The composition of the cabinet is often seen as a barometer of how various competing factions are being balanced.

In the main changes, Anna Moskwa becomes climate minister, replacing Michał Kurtyka; Henryk Kowalczyk takes over as agriculture minister from Grzegorz Puda; Piotr Nowak is made minister of development and technology; and Kamil Bortniczuk becomes sports and tourism minister.

Nowak takes over a ministry that has been led by Morawiecki himself since the departure from government in August of Jarosław Gowin, who was sacked as development minister and took his junior coalition party, Agreement (Porozumienie), out of the ruling coalition.

A sports and tourism ministry previously existed from 2007 to 2019, after which it continued with just the sports portfolio until October 2020, when it was abolished altogether. Now, a year later, it has been re-established, despite previous promises by the government to reduce the number of ministries.

The new sports minister, Bortniczuk, was among a group of Agreement rebels who abandoned Gowin and instead chose to remain in the PiS-led ruling coalition. Commentators have seen his new ministerial post as a reward for his defection.

Puda departs the agriculture ministry after only one year in the role. Though previously seen as a rising star in PiS, he has reportedly been blamed for failing to deal effectively with ongoing protests by farmers. He will remain in government, however, after being given the funds and regional policy portfolio.

Likewise, inside sources claim that Kurtyka had faced criticism for the way he has handled negotiations with the Czech Republic over a coal mine on the border. The dispute has resulted in Poland being hit with €500,000 daily fines by the European Union for failing to close the mine.

Kurtyka and Puda were seen as allies of the prime minister. “There is one common denominator of the changes in the government: Morawiecki’s people are leaving,” wrote Onet, a leading news website. “The prime minister’s position has clearly been weakening in recent weeks.”

Morawiecki, a former international banker who only joined PiS in 2016 before being named prime minister a year later, is reportedly viewed with suspicion by some other senior figures in the party. Onet notes that the new agriculture minister, Kowalczyk, is close to Beata Szydło, whom Morawiecki replaced as prime minister.

Meanwhile, the relatively moderate, technocratic Morawiecki has often clashed with hardline justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro, who is the leader of United Poland (Solidarna Polska), a eurosceptic junior partner in the ruling coalition. Ziobro has in particular accused Morawiecki of being too soft in relations with Brussels.

Main image credit: Marek Borawski/KPRP/Prezydent.pl

Daniel Tilles

Daniel Tilles is editor-in-chief of Notes from Poland. He has written on Polish affairs for a wide range of publications, including Foreign Policy, POLITICO Europe, EUobserver and Dziennik Gazeta Prawna.