Donald Tusk

Donald Franciszek Tusk
Prime Minister of Poland IncumbentAssumed office
16 November 2007President Lech KaczyńskiDeputy Waldemar Pawlak
Grzegorz SchetynaPreceded by Jarosław Kaczyński Vice Marshal of the Senate of PolandIn office
21 October 1997 – 18 October 2001
Served alongside:
Tadeusz Rzemykowski
Marcin Tyrna
Andrzej Chronowski Preceded by Ryszard Czarny
Stefan Jurczak
Zofia Kuratowska
Grzegorz KurczukSucceeded by Jolanta Danielak
Ryszard Jarzembowski
Kazimierz Kutz Vice Marshal of the Sejm of PolandIn office
19 October 2001 – 18 October 2005
Served Alongside:
Andrzej Lepper
Tomasz Nałęcz
Kazimierz Ujazdowski
Janusz Wojciechowski
Józef ZychPreceded by Marek Borowski
Jan Król
Franciszek Stefaniuk
Stanisław ZającSucceeded by Janusz Dobrosz
Jarosław Kalinowski
Bronisław Komorowski
Wojciech Olejniczak
Andrzej Lepper
Genowefa Wiśniowska
Marek KotlinowskiBorn 22 April 1957(1957-04-22) (age 51)
Gdańsk, PolandPolitical party POSpouse Małgorzata Tusk Profession HistorianReligion Roman Catholic

Donald Franciszek Tusk (pronounced [ˈdɔnalt franˈtɕiʃɛk ˈtusk], born 22 April 1957, Gdańsk) is a conservative-liberal Polish politician, co-founder and chairman of the Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska), and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland.

Tusk was officially designated the Prime Minister on November 9 and took office on November 16. He couldn't be certified as Prime Minister as soon as possible, since the brother of leader of the opposition, President Lech Kaczyński, couldn't agree with his brother's loss. His cabinet won the vote of confidence in the Sejm on November 24, 2007.

1 Politics
2 Biography
3 Electoral history
4 References
5 See also
6 External links

Politics

Donald Tusk (right) being appointed PM by the President Lech Kaczyński on November 9th, 2007

Tusk was one of several vice-speakers of the Sejm (2001-2005), the lower house of the Polish parliament. Prior to co-founding Civic Platform in 2001, he was a prominent member of the Liberal Democratic Congress (Kongres Liberalno-Demokratyczny) and the Freedom Union (Unia Wolności). He quit the Freedom Union after he failed to win the party's chairmanship in a race against Bronisław Geremek.

Tusk's political position combines strong support of a free market economy with little government interference, with conservatism. Tusk has been a member of the Sejm since 2004.

Tusk represented the constituencies of Gdynia-Słupsk (2001-2005) and Gdańsk (2005-2007). As of 2007 he is MP for Warsaw. In 2005, the Civic Platform nominated him as their candidate for the 2005 presidential election. He was defeated in the second round by a margin of 46:54 by Lech Kaczyński.

Biography

Education

Tusk graduated from the Mikołaj Kopernik (Nicolaus Copernicus) High School in Gdansk in 1976. He then enrolled as a student of history at the University of Gdansk, from which he graduated in 1980 with an MA thesis on Józef Piłsudski.

Oppositional activity in the People's Republic of Poland (PRL)

Early on he engaged in oppositional activity against the communist regime. As a student of history at the University of Gdansk he participated in creating the Student Committee of Solidarity, which was founded in reaction to the murder of Stanislaw Pyjas by the Security Service (communist secret police) in Krakow. He also cooperated with Bogdan Borusewicz, one of the leaders of Polish Solidarity. He was the originator and one of the first leaders of the Independent Polish Students' Association (laster NZS). Several months later he became the head of "Solidarity" at Sea Publishing House. He was thrown out of the state firm due to his oppositional activity. Tusk engaged in collaborative efforts for seven years with Maciej Plazynski.

Political activity after the fall of communism

Donald Tusk with US President George W. Bush, 2008

Donald Tusk was one of the founders of Liberal Democratic Congress (Kongres Liberalno-Demokratyczny). In 1991 he became the chairman of the KLD, which in the autumn elections won 37 mandates in the lower house. Tusk became one of the members of the Polish Parliament.

During a government crisis in 1992, when the Minister of Internal Matters Antoni Macierewicz unveiled secret collaborators of communist Służba Bezpieczeństwa, Tusk supported a vote of no-confidence against the Olszewski's government. His, and seven other parties appointed Hanna Suchocka as prime minister of Poland.

After the fall of Hanna Suchocka's government in 1993, his party did not cross the 5 percent threshold necessary to enter parliament. In April 1994 Tusk became one of the vice-chairmen of the Freedom Union (Unia Wolnosci), formed by a merger of the KLD with the Democratic Union. He became a senator in 1997 and supported Jerzy Buzek's coalition. In 2000, after losing the chairmanship of the Union of Freedom to Bronisław Geremek, he resigned from the party.

On January 24, 2001, together with Andrzej Olechowski and Maciej Płażyński, he founded the Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska). Plazynski became the party chairman. In 2001 PO received 65 mandates in the lower house, becoming the largest oppositional party. On June 1, 2003 Tusk assumed the position of party chairman, which he holds presently.

Donald Tusk lost the presidential elections in 2005 to Lech Kaczyński. After the elections he remained chairman of his party.

In the 2007 parliamentary elections, he got more than 534,000 votes, which is the best individual result in the electoral history of the Third Polish Republic. His Civic Platform won the elections with 41% of the votes. Tusk was officially designated Prime Minister on November 9 and took office on November 16. His cabinet won the vote of confidence in the Sejm on November 24, 2007.

Family

Donald Tusk and his wife, Małgorzata, have two children, a son, Michał (b. 1982) and a daughter, Katarzyna (b. 1987). They reside in Sopot.

Donald Tusk's father, also named Donald Tusk (1930-1972), was a carpenter. His uncle was a Gdańsk sculptor, Bronisław Tusk (1935-2000). His grandfather, Józef Tusk (1907-1987) was a Polish railway official who, during World War II, served as a soldier in the Polish Army in the West, though he was compulsorily drafted into the Wehrmacht [1]

Donald Tusk belongs to the Kashubian minority.

Editors of Newseek Polska revealed that he has been smoking marijuana when he was a student[2].

Electoral history

Polish presidential election, 2005

e•d Summary of 9 October 2005 Polish Presidential election resultsCandidates and nominating parties Votes 1st round % Votes 2nd round % Lech Kaczyński- Law and Justice4,947,927 33.1 8,257,468 54.04 Donald Tusk - Civic Platform5,429,666 36.3 7,022,319 45.96 Andrzej Lepper- Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland2,259,094 15.1 - - Marek Borowski- Social Democracy of Poland1,544,642 10.3 - - Jarosław Kalinowski- Polish People's Party269,316 1.8 - - Janusz Korwin-Mikke- Real Politics Union214,116 1.4 - - Henryka Bochniarz - Democratic Party188,598 1.3 - - Liwiusz Ilasz 31,691 0.2 - - Stanisław Tymiński- All-Polish Citizens Coalition 23,545 0.2 - - Leszek Bubel - Polish National Party18,828 0.1 - - Jan Pyszko - Organization of the Polish Nation - Polish League 10,371 0.1 - - Adam Słomka - The Polish Confederation-Freedom and the Work 8,895 0.1 - - Total (turnout 49.7 %) 15,046,350 100

Prime Minister of Poland (vote of confidence)

Yes - 238
No - 204
Abstain - 2

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Donald Tusk Political offices Preceded by
Jarosław Kaczyński Prime Minister of Poland
2007 – present Incumbent Order of precedence Preceded by
Bogdan Borusewicz
Senate Marshal Polish order of precedence
Prime Minister Succeeded by
Jerzy Stępień
Constitutional Tribunal Chairman

v • d • e Prime Ministers of the Republic of Poland Kingdom of Poland (1916–1918)Kucharzewski· Ponikowski· Kanty Steczkowski· Świeżyński· Wróblewski· Daszyński Republic of Poland (1918–1939)Daszyński· Moraczewski· Paderewski· Skulski· Grabski· Witos· Ponikowski· Śliwiński· Nowak· Sikorski· Witos· Grabski· Skrzyński· Witos· Bartel· Piłsudski· Bartel· Świtalski· Bartel· Sławek· Piłsudski· Sławek· Prystor· Jędrzejewicz· Kozłowski· Sławek· Zyndram-Kościałkowski· Składkowski Polish government in Exile (1939–1990)Sikorski· Mikołajczyk· Arciszewski· Bór-Komorowski· Tomaszewski· Odzierzyński· Hryniewski· Mackiewicz· Hanke· Pająk· Zawisza· Muchniewski· Urbański· Sabbat· Szczepanik People's Republic of Poland (1944–1989)Osóbka-Morawski· Cyrankiewicz· Bierut· Cyrankiewicz· Jaroszewicz· Babiuch· Pińkowski· Jaruzelski· Messner· Rakowski· Kiszczak· Mazowiecki Republic of Poland (1989–present)Mazowiecki· Bielecki· Olszewski· Pawlak· Suchocka· Pawlak· Oleksy· Cimoszewicz· Buzek· Miller· Belka· Marcinkiewicz· Kaczyński· Tusk

v • d • eThe Cabinet of Donald TuskOriginal members

Elżbieta Bieńkowska • Zbigniew Ćwiąkalski • Zbigniew Derdziuk • Mirosław Drzewiecki • Jolanta Fedak • Cezary Grabarczyk • Aleksander Grad • Katarzyna Hall • Bogdan Klich • Ewa Kopacz • Barbara Kudrycka • Maciej Nowicki • Waldemar Pawlak • Jan Vincent-Rostowski • Marek Sawicki • Grzegorz Schetyna • Radosław Sikorski • Donald Tusk • Bogdan Zdrojewski

v • d • e Parliamentary caucus headsof Civic Platform Maciej Płażyński • Jan Rokita • Donald Tusk • Bogdan Zdrojewski • Zbigniew Chlebowski

v • d • e Vice-Marshals of the Sejm of the Republic of Poland(Third Republic) 1st term (1991–1993) Henryk Bąk · Andrzej Kern · Jacek Kuraczewski · Dariusz Wójcik · Józef Zych2nd term (1993–1997) Marek Borowski · Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz · Olga Krzyżanowska · Aleksander Małachowski · Józef Zych3rd term (1997–2001) Marek Borowski · Jan Król · Franciszek Stefaniuk · Stanisław Zając4th term (2001–2005) Andrzej Lepper · Tomasz Nałęcz · Kazimierz Ujazdowski · Janusz Wojciechowski · Józef Zych · Donald Tusk 5th term (2005–2007) Janusz Dobrosz · Jarosław Kalinowski · Bronisław Komorowski · Wojciech Olejniczak · Andrzej Lepper · Genowefa Wiśniowska · Marek Kotlinowski6th term (2007–present) Jarosław Kalinowski · Stefan Niesiołowski · Krzysztof Putra · Jerzy Szmajdziński

v • d • e Vice-Marshals of the Senate of the Republic of Poland(Third Republic) 1st term
(1989-1991) Zofia Kuratowska · Józef Ślisz · Andrzej Wielowieyski 2nd term
(1991-1993) Andrzej Czapski · Alicja Grześkowiak · Józef Ślisz 3rd term
(1993-1997) Ryszard Czarny · Stefan Jurczak · Zofia Kuratowska · Grzegorz Kurczuk4th term
(1997-2001) Tadeusz Rzemykowski · Donald Tusk · Marcin Tyrna · Andrzej Chronowski 5th term
(2001-2005) Jolanta Danielak · Kazimierz Kutz · Ryszard Jarzembowski 6th term
(2005-2007) Ryszard Legutko · Maciej Płażyński · Krzysztof Putra · Marek Ziółkowski 7th term
(2007-present) Krystyna Bochenek · Marek Ziółkowski