(Bloomberg) — Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government is facing its biggest test of unity yet as lawmakers begin a debate on relaxing Poland’s restrictive abortion law.
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The issue was polarizing enough to be excluded from the three-party coalition’s cooperation agreement after a parliamentary election in October. It has divided the alliance since.
Lawmakers on Thursday will discuss four different pieces of legislation to restore women’s reproductive rights after the previous nationalist administration imposed one of the European Union’s most restrictive abortion laws.
The debate comes in the wake of mounting tension between Tusk’s two junior partners — the conservative Third Way alliance and the Left. It underscores challenges faced by a coalition of parties from across the political spectrum struggling to hold together as Tusk restores Poland’s ties with the EU and tries to keep populist forces at bay.
Of the coalition parties, the Third Way alliance backs a referendum to decide whether Poles want to change the current abortion law. Tusk’s Civic Coalition and the Left separately seek to allow termination for up to 12 weeks of pregnancy. The Left also proposes decriminalizing abortion.
Parliament Speaker Szymon Holownia of the Third Way already delayed the debate until after local elections last Sunday so that it won’t dominate the campaign. The Left decried the move.
The conflict flared up this week following media speculation that Tusk plans to shake up his cabinet and strip the Left of a ministerial post after the coalition’s lackluster performance in the local ballots. The vote showed that the nationalist Law & Justice remains the country’s single most popular party.
The prime minister said that a reshuffle is possible in the coming months, but stressed the decision won’t depend on party affiliation. Those who “didn’t optimally use these months, will say goodbye to their jobs in the government,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
Tusk said he hopes that coalition partners will vote in favor of all four draft bills and send them for further legislative work in parliamentary committees.
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