Of the 460 lawmakers in the lower house, 272 voted for the conservative minority government proposed by Prime Minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz and 187 against. There were no abstentions.
The new government, made up mainly of members of Mr Marcinkiewicz's conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, won PiS's 155 votes in parliament and was also backed by the far-right League of Polish Families (LPR), the euro-sceptic Samoobrona, and the Peasants' Party.
The former ruling Democratic Left Alliance, which was swept from power in September's general election, voted against the government, as did the second biggest party in parliament behind PiS, its one-time partner in coalition talks, the liberal Civic Platform (PO).
Marcinkiewicz program
"As of tomorrow or even as of today I will show determination in implementing my government's program," Mr Marcinkiewicz said in a statement after the vote, in which he also thanked the parties that voted for his government.
The new government's priorities were to drive the Polish economy forward while ensuring Poles' financial security, Marcinkiewicz said in a policy speech before the crucial vote.
He deliberately kept his policy statement vague, and avoided issues which might have cost his government the support of parties such as the LPR, fiercely opposed to unchecked privatisation and foreign investment in Poland, and Samoobrona, against any form of economic liberalism.
"Our program is very pragmatic because the economy needs pragmatic, not ideological, solutions. Economic development must go hand in hand with job creation," Mr Marcinkiewicz told the 460-seat lower house of parliament.
In the international arena, Mr Marcinkiewicz eyed a greater role for Poland, which he suggested could allay differences that might arise between the European Union and United States, both of which were at the heart of Poland's foreign policy.
European integration was "our guarantee of development and wealth" and the alliance with the United States in the framework of NATO was Poland's guarantee of security, said Mr Marcinkiewicz.
He pledged to maintain state control in key companies ranging from the postal services to public media to a banking group and energy and mining giants, as part of a drive to create a uniquely Polish breed of capitalism.
"We are going to develop these companies to create a Polish brand name and Polish capitalism," he said.
He proposed a simplified tax system, the end of a capital gains tax on stock market earnings and a 30 billion zloty (7.5 billion euros, 8.75 billion dollars) ceiling on the budget deficit.
Political reaction
Roman Giertych, head of the LPR, praised Mr Marcinkiewicz's program and said before the vote that the new cabinet should be given a chance.
But Mr Giertych later warned: "We won't give this government another chance if it departs from what has been announced in the policy statement."
PO leader Donald Tusk, defeated by PiS's Lech Kaczynski in last month's presidential race, decried the alliance between PiS, LPR and Samoobrona as "anti-European and xenophobic".
Having heard the policy speeches of all 12 prime ministers in post-communist Poland, none was as vague as Mr Marcinkiewicz's, said Mr Tusk.
SLD leader Wojciech Olejniczak lamented that the left was handing an economically healthy Poland with falling unemployment figures to a right-wing government, and pleaded that the new government not undo all the good work.
"It happened once before. You were a cabinet minister then, Mr
Marcinkiewicz. Please do not spoil (the economy) this time," Mr Olejniczak appealed.
The jobless rate has fallen steadily under the defeated left-wing government, with unemployment in September, when PiS was elected, dropping to 17.6 percent of the workforce from 18.9 percent a year earlier.