In the end, it only took two months of heel-dragging for Polish president Andrzej Duda, a staunch supporter of the populist Law and Justice Party (PiS), to finally accept that—despite all attempts to rig the election in their favour—the authoritarian incumbents had lost. Eventually, he swore in Donald Tusk (Civic Platform, PO) as the new prime minister on 13th December.
Shortly afterwards, the newly minted premier thanked the country’s head of state, saying he hoped their working relationship would be constructive, cooperative and in the service of the Polish people. Tusk appeared to be struggling to control his facial expressions during this speech: he seemed unconvinced that either the president or the PiS was interested in constructive cooperation.