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Donald Franciszek Tusk [ˈdɔnalt franˈt͡ɕiʂɛk ˈtusk] ( listen) (born April 22, 1957, Gdańsk) is a center-right Polish politician, co-founder and chairman of the Civic Platform (Platforma Obywatelska), and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland.
Tusk was officially designated as Prime Minister on November 9, 2007 and took office on November 16. His cabinet won the vote of confidence in the Sejm on November 24, 2007.
Politics
Donald Tusk (right) being appointed as Prime Minister by President Lech Kaczyński on November 9, 2007
Tusk was one of several vice-speakers of the Sejm (2001-2005), the lower house of the Polish parliament. Prior to co-founding Civic Platform in 2001, he was a prominent member of the Liberal Democratic Congress (Kongres Liberalno-Demokratyczny) and the Freedom Union (Unia Wolności). He quit the Freedom Union after he failed to win the party's chairmanship in a race against Bronisław Geremek.
Tusk's political position combines strong support of a free market economy with little government interference. Tusk has been a member of the Sejm since 2004.
Tusk represented the constituencies of Gdynia-Słupsk (2001-2005) and Gdańsk (2005-2007). As of 2007 he is MP for Warsaw. The Civic Platform nominated him as their candidate for the Polish presidential election, 2005. He was defeated in the second round by a margin of 46:54 by Lech Kaczyński.
Controversies
On 27th October 2009, Tusk declared that he wants to partially delegalize gambling.1 There are some concerns on Internet censorship, as Tusk wants to ban Internet gambling and monitor Internet connections and money transfers.
Awards
The Karlspreis of the city of Aachen will be awarded to Tusk on 13 May 2010 for his merits in the further unification of Europe.2
Education
Tusk graduated from the Mikołaj Kopernik (Nicolaus Copernicus) High School in Gdańsk in 1976. He then enrolled as a student of history at the University of Gdańsk, from which he graduated in 1980 under professor Roman Wapiński with a MA thesis on Józef Piłsudski.
Family
Donald Tusk and his wife, Małgorzata, have two children, a son, Michał (b. 1982) and a daughter, Katarzyna (b. 1987). They reside in Sopot near Gdańsk.
Donald Tusk's father, also named Donald Tusk (1930-1972), was a carpenter. Donald Tusk's mother, Ewa Tusk (1934-2009),3 was a nurse. His uncle was a Gdańsk sculptor, Bronisław Tusk (1935-2000). His grandfather Józef Tusk (1907-1987) was a railway official who (due to his Kashubian heritage) was compulsorily drafted by German Nazi authorities into the Wehrmacht4 on August 2, 1944. He deserted only a few months later to join the Polish Army in the West on November 24, 1944. Donald Tusk belongs to the Kashubian minority in Poland. Tusk is a football fan and occasionally plays football or watches notable matches on television.
Electoral history
Polish presidential election, 2005
e • d Summary of 9 October 2005 Polish Presidential election results
| Candidates and nominating parties |
Votes 1st round |
% |
Votes 2nd round |
% |
| Lech Kaczyński - Law and Justice |
4,947,927 |
33.1 |
8,257,468 |
54.04 |
| Donald Tusk - Civic Platform |
5,429,666 |
36.3 |
7,022,319 |
45.96 |
| Andrzej Lepper - Self-Defense of the Republic of Poland |
2,259,094 |
15.1 |
- |
- |
| Marek Borowski - Social Democracy of Poland |
1,544,642 |
10.3 |
- |
- |
| Jarosław Kalinowski - Polish People's Party |
269,316 |
1.8 |
- |
- |
| Janusz Korwin-Mikke - Real Politics Union |
214,116 |
1.4 |
- |
- |
| Henryka Bochniarz - Democratic Party |
188,598 |
1.3 |
- |
- |
| Liwiusz Ilasz |
31,691 |
0.2 |
- |
- |
| Stanisław Tymiński - All-Polish Citizens Coalition |
23,545 |
0.2 |
- |
- |
| Leszek Bubel - Polish National Party |
18,828 |
0.1 |
- |
- |
| Jan Pyszko - Organization of the Polish Nation - Polish League |
10,371 |
0.1 |
- |
- |
| Adam Słomka - The Polish Confederation-Freedom and the Work |
8,895 |
0.1 |
- |
- |
| Total (turnout 49.7 %) |
15,046,350 |
100 |
|
|
Prime Minister of Poland (vote of confidence)
- Yes - 238
- No - 204
- Abstain - 2
See also
References
External links
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