PM Tusk; photo - PR

The latest edition of the prestigious The Economist weekly writes that Prime Minister Donald Tusk, “an emollient figure in a quarrelsome country,” has stabilised Polish politics and looks set to win a historic second victory at the general election in the autumn.

But though the opinion polls look good for the government led by Tusk’s centre-right Civic Platform party, “part of Mr Tusk’s success stems from his rival’s failings,” the article argues, referring to leader of the main opposition party, the conservative Jaroslaw Kaczynski, whose “conspiracy theories” about the cause of the Smolensk air disaster which killed his twin brother President Lech Kaczynski last year “enthuse some” but “bemuse and repel others”.

Tusk’s government is not without its problems, however: “Despite a big road-building programme, mostly paid for by the European Union, Polish roads are among the worst in the EU,” writes The Economist.

On foreign policy, “Poland has been irksomely hesitant over Libya,” and “a squabble with Lithuania has annoyed neighbours that would prefer to see Poland as a leader, not a score-settler”.

On economics, think tanks “highlight the government’s sloth in honouring its election promises to reform Poland’s clogged and clunky public administration. Chronic economic ills include low labour-force participation and incontinent public finances. The government trumpets strong growth but luck counted as much as judgment in that…”

Read the whole article here. (pg)