When history has thrown up surprises for Western democracies over the past decade, it has generally not been on their side. At the Polish Parliament on Monday, December 11, however, a range of political movements, from the radical left to moderate conservatives, were united in celebration. Poland had beaten the odds of a "Turkish scenario" or a "second Hungary," with the authoritarian populism embodied by the Law and Justice party (PiS) for eight years ousted, no longer taking root in the country.

At the heart of this success is one man, Donald Tusk, who returns to the helm of the country after serving as prime minister between 2007 and 2014 before holding the presidency of the European Council (2014-2019) and that of the European People's Party (2019-2022). By 248 votes out of 460, the Sejm, the lower house of parliament, restored its confidence in him. Forming a heart with his hands as the result was announced, symbolizing the democratic coalition that was supposed to respond to the "hate speech" distilled by his opponents, Tusk could hardly hide his emotion, such was his difficult return to the national stage under the relentless fire of violent propaganda orchestrated by the PiS.

Having defeated his lifelong enemy, the PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, he has proven that reactionary populism can be defeated, even under extremely unfavorable conditions for the democratic opposition, to an anxious Europe worried about the relentless rise of the far right. Politico placed Donald Tusk at the top of its ranking of "Europe's most influential men" for its class of 2024.

The parliamentary marathon of December 11 was not short on symbolism. The former president and leader of the Solidarnosc (Solidarity) trade union, Lech Walesa, who was present in the gallery and received several standing ovations, was moved to tears when Tusk thanked him for having inspired his political vocation, referring to when they planned a demonstration banned by the Communist regime in the late 1970s.

"This is a wonderful day, not for me, but for all those who have deeply believed over these years that things will get even better, that we will chase away the darkness, chase away the evil," exclaimed Tusk in a brief statement from the rostrum. "I will be indebted to all those who trusted in this new, wonderful Poland, to all those who trusted us ...and decided to make this historic change." The new prime minister dedicated the victory to "all Poles offended, embittered and insulted by eight years of politics of contempt... We will fix it all together, we will be able to right the wrongs from tomorrow, so that all Polish citizens will feel at home," he concluded.

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