Poland's conservative ruling party leader Kaczynski is joining the government as the deputy premier

Poland’s powerful conservative ruling party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski is reentering the government as the only deputy prime minister in the Cabinet

Poland Democracy March (Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Poland's powerful conservative ruling party leader, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, is reentering the government on Wednesday as the only deputy prime minister in the Cabinet, a move that gives him an enhanced position as the country heads toward a general election this fall.

Kaczynski is the head of Law and Justice, the party that has governed Poland since 2015. It is widely believed in Poland that he decides most of the government's policies and appointments, guiding the country in his position as party leader.

He has previously served as deputy prime minister with a focus on security issues. He announced exactly a year ago that he was resigning from that position.

This time, he will become the only deputy prime minister in the Cabinet of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, the government spokesman Piotr Mueller told the Polish news agency PAP.

So far, there had been four deputy prime ministers in the Cabinet.

“The other deputy prime ministers have resigned from the functions of deputy prime ministers and will remain ministers,” Mueller said.

President Andrzej Duda is scheduled to hold a ceremony later Wednesday to confirm the government changes.