Democracy Digest: Zeman and Tusk – Knights in Shining Armour?

Fast forward to today and this weekend's congress of Civic Coalition is supposed to be accompanied by the news Tusk will take over leadership of the fledgling coalition that contains the party he once led to two consecutive electoral victories, serving as prime minister from 2007 to 2014. Yet Civic Coalition is not even the preeminent opposition force in Poland any longer; the most promising party in the liberal opposition camp is a new party founded by moderate Catholic Szymon Holownia.

Current Civic Coalition leader Borys Budka is said to be ready to step down and let Tusk take over. However, this week also brought signs that Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, the party's candidate in the 2020 presidential election, could pose a challenge to Tusk. Together with other progressive mayors, Trzaskowski just launched his movement of municipalities and has been working on building a broad civic movement, whose position vis-a-vis Civic Coalition is so far unclear. Trzaskowski's move would fit the international trend of big city mayors raising a serious challenge to illiberal leaders, which can be observed in Turkey, Hungary, Croatia and elsewhere.

Trzaskowski also represents the youth wing of the party - and perhaps a needed break from the past. Tusk, a well-respected politician who brings European experience at the highest levels, is still somewhat burdened by an association with a Civic Platform government that was perhaps too liberal in its economic approach for the taste of many in Poland.

The youth wing of the party, Trzaskowski included, has been more willing to acknowledge lessons that two PiS electoral victories have brought: that the party cannot win without the provinces and that it cannot afford to seem too arrogant towards society's...