Kaczyński Dismisses PiS Prime Ministerial Candidate Rumors, Blames Internal Splitters

PiS leader Jarosław Kaczyński firmly rejected media reports claiming the party is replacing its prime ministerial candidate, denouncing ongoing attacks and manipulations from recent party defectors.

Rzeczpospolita Reports on Potential Candidate Swap

According to reports by “Rzeczpospolita,” a decision was allegedly made within the party to change the candidate for the office of prime minister. A prominent PiS politician told the newspaper that the Czarnek project is finished.

Sources reached by the newspaper indicated that the new candidate was to be the Head of the Presidential Cabinet Zbigniew Bogucki or PiS deputy leader and MEP Tobiasz Bocheński.

Sources pointed mainly to Bogucki, noting that the president would have to consent to such an option. Bocheński is rated much worse in the party, with many interlocutors complaining that the young MEP lacks distinctiveness.

Kaczyński Blames Attacks on Former PiS Pretenders

On Friday, August 7, Kaczyński addressed this information. In a post published on X, he stated that for over 35 years, since the establishment of the Center Agreement, their political environment has been the target of attacks based on lies, manipulations, and insinuations, adding that it is regrettable these attacks now come from people who until recently pretended they wanted to be in PiS and decided to split.

Kaczyński explicitly declared that the Law and Justice candidate for the office of prime minister is Prof. Przemysław Czarnek and nothing is changing in this matter.

Past Considerations of Bogucki and Ongoing Party Strife

In February, PAP sources associated with PiS reported that both Bogucki and Bocheński were on the party’s list of potential candidates for prime minister. In April, Kaczyński confirmed he considered Bogucki, but ultimately an agreement was not reached.

Speculation regarding the change of the PiS prime ministerial candidate arises amid a deepening decline in PiS support in polls and an ongoing split within the party involving supporters of former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, who are currently members of the Rozwój Plus association and parliamentary club.