Ex-president Duda says”generational change” needed on Polish right

Andrzej Duda, who this month left office after ten years as Poland's president, has suggested that “generational change” is needed on the Polish right and hinted that its current leading figure, 76-year-old Law and Justice (PiS) party chairman Jarosław Kaczyński, is too old.

Duda also revealed the difficult relationship he enjoyed with Kaczyński during much of his presidency, despite himself being a former PiS politician and his candidacy being supported by the party. Some reports have suggested that Duda, 53, now has ambitions to succeed Kaczyński in leading the right.

“Is it really true that people almost 80 years old should be deciding everything, including the fate of Poland? Well, I have serious doubts,” said Duda during an appearance on the Żurnalista podcast, where he was asked about why he thinks PiS lost power in 2023 .

“Maybe someone no longer meets the demands of current reality,” he added. "Maybe generational changes are needed. Maybe someone is looking at the reality around us with too rigid eyes? Maybe they are constantly carrying too much baggage from the communist era?"

Duda did not mention Kaczyński, or anyone else, by name. However, Kaczyński has been the dominant figure on the Polish right for the last two decades, is approaching 80 years of age, and was once part of the opposition to the former communist regime.

Asked specifically if PiS, which Kaczyński has led since 2003, needs a new leader, Duda said that it “needs a more modern outlook” that sheds the “complexes” of the past, which young Poles no longer hold. He admitted that he himself “sometimes still has such an outlook” stemming from the communist era.

The former president also pointed to the recent popularity of the far-right Confederation party, which he noted is headed by young leaders, Sławomir Mentzen, 38, and Krzysztof Bosak, 43.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Duda did specifically mention Kaczyński, admitting that they enjoyed difficult relations, particularly during the second half of Duda's presidency.

“ I invited Jarosław Kaczyński several times [for meetings] during my second term, but he declined. So I stopped inviting him,” said Duda. He claimed that both Kaczyński and the current prime minister, Donald Tusk, dislike him in “exactly the same way” due to his independence.

“Both are gentlemen who cannot tolerate opposition,” said Duda. “Both gentlemen believe that only they know what is needed in Poland and therefore believe that all their orders should be carried out…As president, I had a different opinion.”

Duda was supported by PiS in both of his presidential election campaigns, in 2015 and 2020. While in office, some critics derided him as Kaczyński's “pen”, signing anything sent to him by the PiS majority in parliament.

However, no Polish president has ever vetoed more legislation from their own political camp than Duda, who blocked laws relating to the judiciary, education system , and media ownership , among others.

After PiS lost power in 2023, the president also issued further vetoes against bills passed by the new, more liberal ruling coalition led by Tusk, including on health-insurance contributions , judicial reform , and recognizing Silesian as a language .

After stepping down, Polish presidents, who are constitutionally limited to serving two terms, usually department front-line politics. However, Duda – who left office as Poland's most-trusted politician, according to polls – declared that he is “not retiring” and will seek to remain active in public life.

Main image credit: Kuba Atys / Electoral Agency.