Morawiecki said tensions inside his Law and Justice (PiS) party amounted to no more than "communications turbulence."
He spoke after Kaczyński, the party’s longtime leader, warned on Friday that people involved in Morawiecki’s new Development Plus association would have no place on PiS candidate lists in future parliamentary elections.
Asked by reporters on Monday whether the dispute amounted to a party split, Morawiecki answered: “Absolutely not.”
He added that Kaczyński had been misled by some people about the nature of the initiative and suggested the issue could come up in a planned conversation with the PiS leader.
Mateusz Morawiecki and Jarosław Kaczyński. Photos: Agnieszka Bielecka/Tomasz Gzell/PAP
Morawiecki told reporters that his Development Plus association is still at a very early stage. He said an application to register it had been filed with the court a few days earlier.
He also rejected claims that the project would build local branches across Poland, saying that while people from around the country were reaching out, no such structures were planned.
PiS authorities have taken a harder line.
Party spokesman Rafał Bochenek said last week that activity by PiS members within the association was contrary to the party statute and could lead to disciplinary consequences.
Kaczyński later said party rules clearly bar activity in other political organizations and argued that Morawiecki’s project had begun taking on that character.
Morawiecki has presented the new group as a way to reach voters on the center-right who feel unrepresented by existing parties on the right, including PiS and the far-right Confederation group.
He said that Karol Nawrocki’s victory in Poland’s 2025 presidential election was followed by a shift to the right in public debate, but PiS itself had not gained new voters.
In his view, the party needs different language for different groups, especially entrepreneurs, local government officials, business people and younger voters who may be put off by very radical rhetoric.
The row is politically sensitive because Morawiecki remains one of the party’s best-known figures ahead of next year's parliamentary election. He served as Poland’s prime minister from 2017 to 2023, when PiS lost power and moved into opposition.
(rt/gs)
Source: IAR, PAP