POLAND:President Lech Kaczynski of Poland has nominated Civic Platform (PO) leader Donald Tusk as the country's next prime minister, nearly three weeks after PO's general election victory.
As prime minister, Mr Tusk (50) succeeds President Kaczynski's twin brother, Jaroslaw, who resigned on Monday.
After a parliamentary vote of confidence, Mr Tusk is expected to present his cabinet in the coming days and take up office in one week.
These and other cabinet appointments will be closely watched across Europe after two unpredictable years dealing with Jaroslaw Kaczynski.
The new government is expected to be less combative towards other EU member states and adopt business-friendly policies to cut red tape and boost economic growth.
Front-runner for foreign minister is Radek Sikorski, who studied in London and the US and served as defence minister under Mr Kaczynski before defecting to the PO. The likely candidate for finance minister is economist Jacek Rostowski.
He favours early adoption of the euro and helped steer Poland's post-communist economic reforms.
However the PO-lead government's bold economic reform plans, such as plans for a flat tax, will be opposed by its junior coalition partner, the Peasants' Party.
The junior partner will take the posts of deputy prime minister, economics and agriculture.
The new government will have 240 seats in the new parliament, the Sejm.
While this is a little in excess of the 231 votes needed to form a government, it will need votes from the opposition if it is to reach the three-fifths majority needed to overrule presidential vetoes.
The Polish president has already said he is unhappy with Mr Tusk's plan to adopt the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.
In its last days, the outgoing government negotiated an opt- out, claiming it would open the door to gay marriage and euthanasia in Poland.
A leading PO member yesterday suggested that, despite the change of government, it was business as usual on social affairs in Poland, in particular minority rights.
"Mr Tusk has no time for tripe like meeting feminists, gays and lesbians", Stefan Niesiolowski (63), a PO MP told the newspaper Rzeczpospolita.
Mr Tusk, a father of two, promised yesterday to rebuild relations with Moscow, which have become strained over energy issues and a continued Russian import ban on Polish produce.
At a press conference yesterday, Mr Tusk said he saw a "real opportunity" for improvement of relations, providing there was "good will . . . from both sides".