Presidential election in Poland scheduled for spring, but related campaign already resembles a circus

An electoral race is in full swing in Poland – with hackers, illegal tricks of opponents, and a sea of black PR. The political scene has transformed into a battlefield, and there is not a single thesis here about the country’s future. Meanwhile, not so long ago, Belarus was accused of holding its election without democracy…

What is the current situation in Poland? According to the latest poll prepared by the Opinia24 research centre, Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski would have won 35.3 percent of the vote in the first round, followed by Karol Nawrocki from PiS (22.1 percent) and Slawomir Mentzen from far-right Confederation (13.2 percent). If Trzaskowski and Nawrocki meet in the second round, then slightly more than half of the Poles questioned would prefer to choose the former. No less important is the fact that 12.4 percent of all respondents have no idea of whom to vote for. Who knows how many more such citizens – not included in the survey – are…

It is really difficult to make a choice, since there are no adequate options. All candidates are focused solely on humiliating their rivals, not on building a better Poland and preserving common values. No one is interested in programmes or compelling arguments for voters: it seems it’s simply better to prepare a new tub of mud for another candidate. The country is being steadily led to destruction, and this is obvious. However, this state of affairs is not new to Polish politics – just recall the border zone with Belarus that was destroyed just for pseudo-militarist reasons. Nobody cared then that the economy, environment, people and tourism would suffer. That was just a campaign to flex muscles.

The candidates are now actively campaigning, and some of them started even long before the election date was announced. Slogans and statements sound democratic in words: Rafal Trzaskowski calls for modernising infrastructure, improving the quality of education and promoting sustainable development, Karol Nawrocki promotes strengthening national security, supporting Polish culture and traditions, and improving the economy, while Slawomir Mentzen advocates reforming the political system, fighting corruption and improving the quality of people’s life through his Changes for Better Future.

What about sovereignty? Have they just decided to ignore it? After all, they understand that, if Poland does not break away from the influence of the United States and does not establish relations with its neighbours, then no social improvements are likely.   

The only one who has come anywhere close to the truth is Grzegorz Braun from the Confederation of the Polish Crown movement. With the Sovereign Poland slogan, he proposed to fight against globalisation and promote national and traditional values. However, there is a sin: in December, the candidate extinguished Hanukkah candles with a fire extinguisher in the Parliament building, and people even had to be evacuated. Are double standards in force here?

In general, the election campaign is likely to be interesting, and it's time to stock up on popcorn. At the same time, Poles are not in the mood for fun: ordinary people there saw how the election was held in Belarus — honestly, openly, with concern for the future of the country. Objectively, citizens of Poland want the same. There is still time to establish ties, because Belarusians are committed to good neighbourliness. We’ll see whether Polish politics enter this open door.

By Davide Carbonaro