The outgoing President of the European Council Donald Tusk said on Tuesday that he won't be running for Polish presidency next year.
In recent weeks, experts and politicians were speculating on whether or not Tusk would decide to challenge the incumbent president Andrzej Duda, an ally and former member of the ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party.
"After careful consideration I have decided that I will not run in the upcoming presidential election," Donald Tusk told journalists in Brussels.
He added that he had decided to announce the decision on Tuesday as time was of the essence.
"And I wouldn't like to hinder in any way the opposition's process of choosing their candidates," said the outgoing chief of the European Council.
Tusk also added that "we (Civic Coalition) can still win but what's necessary is a candidate not burdened with many difficult, unpopular decisions, and I've been carrying such burden since I was the prime minister".
He stressed he would support the opposition's candidate in the next year's presidential election.
Civic Coalition MP and former deputy PM and defense minister, Tomasz Siemoniak, said that all rumours "are now over". "Now the Civic Coalition's main task is to find a presidential candidate as soon as possible," Siemoniak added.
Katarzyna Lubnauer, the head of Modern Party (member of Civic Coalition), wrote on Twitter that, in her view, Tusk once more had proved that he is a mature and experienced politician.
"Thanks to his experience and international contacts, he would make a great President of Poland. Unfortunately, due to his political reputation, he would make a much worse, polarising candidate," Lubnauer wrote.
Donald Tusk is the top candidate to stand at the helm of the European People's Party. The new EPP chief is to be chosen on November 20, at a party summit in Zagreb.
Autor: gf / Źródło: TVN24 News in English, PAP
Źródło zdjęcia głównego: tvn24