This week the government of Prime Minister Donald Tusk could see a significant shakeup. Tomasz Arabski, current chief of the Permanent Committee of the Council of Ministers, is set to become Poland’s ambassador to Spain, and Mr Tusk has decided to use the occasion to make bigger changes amongst his government ministers.
 

“On Wednesday there will be a cabinet meeting at which I will announce changes in the government connected with Mr Arabski’s departure, of which there will be several,” said the prime minister at a press conference last week.

The announcement started a wave of speculation as to who might get the boot.

According to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Janusz Piechociński, the changes could be “unexpected.” He added in an interview with TVN24 that only ministers who are members of the senior coalition partner Civic Platform could lose their jobs. He didn’t delve into details, but when asked about the future of Minister of Justice Jarosław Gowin, he replied enigmatically: “He is a member of Civic Platform.”

Mr Gowin’s future has been a point of speculation ever since he claimed a government-supported bill that would have given some marriage-similar rights to same-sex couples was unconstitutional. Prime Minister Donald Tusk quickly denied the claim, saying, “This is only Mr Gowin’s personal opinion, and not the official position of the government.”

While most politicians from the government coalition are unwilling to comment on the matter, the opposition is having a field day, proposing plenty of potential candidates to fire. The most often-repeated names are Health Minister Bartosz Arłukowicz, Education Minister Krystyna Szumilas and Treasury Minister Mikołaj Budzanowski.