Courtesy of Presidential Chancellery

Bronisław Komorowski has now been officially sworn in as the president of Poland. Mr Komorowski had, until his election last month, been the acting head of state since the untimely death of his predecessor Lech Kaczyński in the fatal April 10 Smoleńsk plane crash.

A history graduate and former democratic opposition activist, Mr Komorowski has been a member of every Polish Sejm since democracy returned to Poland in 1989.

He was Sejm speaker from 2007 to 2010 and also served as defense minister from 2000 to 2001 when current European Parliament President Jerzy Buzek was prime minister of Poland.

Mr Komorowski is considered a traditionalist conservative politician, although he won the presidential election portraying himself as a modernist and moderate.

Bronisław Komorowski’s ascendancy to the presidency is expected by many to initiate a period of smooth cooperation between the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the office of the president. This would be a turnaround from the Lech Kaczyński era, when Poland’s two central seats of power were in perpetual conflict, which was often debilitating to both sides.

President Komorowski and Prime Minister Tusk are expected to work well together since both of them are from the same party (though Mr Komorowski has announced he intends to follow the tradition of past presidents in rescinding his party membership). Moreover, Mr Komorowski is considered to be conciliatory and non-confrontational in general.

However, these assumptions could yet be proved wrong.

Already there are media reports of Mr Komorowski trying to create a new political power base with the help of PO politicians who would like to see the prime minister’s strong position within his party limited.

If these reports prove true, then Poland could be in for a serious power-struggle, though mostly behind closed doors and diplomatic smiles.

Only time will tell what sort of president Bronisław Komorowski will be and how well he will work with Mr Tusk.