Poland Votes on Sunday: More Divided Than Ever – Opposition Accuses Populist Government of ‘Planning to Leave the European Union’

Poles on polls: the parliamentary election taking place on Sunday is bound to be momentous.

Opposition says will determine ‘the country’s democratic standing and place in the European Union’.

The campaign has been dominated by issues of sovereignty and security.

The nationalist Law and Justice (PiS) party has repeatedly clashed with the EU over reforms.

Reuters reported:

“‘I know… that they are planning systematically, in cold blood, to take Poland out of the European Union’, Donald Tusk, leader of the largest opposition grouping Civic Coalition (KO) told supporters. PiS denies any such plan.”

Poland’s national security and immigration have featured heavily in the campaign.

A souring of relations with Kyiv over Poland’s ‘ban on cheap Ukrainian grain imports’ also took place during the pre-election months.

The populist government casts the election as a choice between an opposition that is beholden to German interests, and soft on migration – and a government that will defend Poland’s sovereignty and borders.

“‘Für Deutschland, that is, for Germany. He repeated these words very often’, PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski told a campaign rally, hammering home his party’s message that Tusk is a German stooge.

‘He certainly would not have protected us from the flood of Ukrainian grain, because for that you had to have courage – to oppose Germany, to oppose the European Union’.”

The government’s campaign touts how the social benefit programs and minimum wage increases have improved living standards, while the opposition promises unblock billions in funds withheld by the EU over ‘rule-of-law concerns’.

“A referendum is also being held on election day. PiS says it aims to ensure the will of the people is respected on four issues: privatization of state companies, raising the retirement age, a fence on the Belarus border, and accepting migrants under an EU deal.”

Opinion polls suggest that populist PiS will remain the largest party in parliament, but may fall short of a majority.

The Guardian reported:

“But with polls suggesting that neither side will have the votes to form a government outright, the decisive say in who rules Poland for the next four years could lie with Confederation, an eclectic far-right coalition of nationalists, libertarians and monarchists.”

Confederation is polling at about 10%, which could give it just about enough MPs to hold the balance of power.

“’If there is a hung parliament, they will be the kingmakers’, said Aleks Szczerbiak, politics professor at the University of Sussex, UK.”

Confederation has campaigned on low taxes, rejection of migration to Poland, and reducing support for Ukraine or Ukrainian refugees.

“During the last election campaign, in 2019, Sławomir Mentzen, one of the party’s leaders, summarised Confederation’s priorities: ‘We don’t want Jews, homosexuals, abortions, taxes, or the European Union’.

[…] On Monday, Confederation’s Krzysztof Bosak represented the party in a pre-election debate on public television, and pressed hard on anti-Ukraine and anti-migration talking points. ‘The border must be protected, we cannot succumb to any political correctness here. Every piece of Polish territory must be defended’, he said.”

Confederation has led populist PiS government to take a firmer line on Ukraine, with the prime minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, causing waves when he announced a halt in Polish arms transfers to Kyiv.

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