Poland’s ruling party has long relied on anti-German tones. Now she has announced that she will let the Poles vote on whether they support the “sell-out of state-owned companies” — and is thus targeting both Germany and opposition leader Tusk.
At the official start of the election campaign in Poland, the national conservative governing party PiS intensified its anti-German tones. Simultaneously with the parliamentary elections on October 15, the Poles should decide on four questions in a referendum, PiS boss Jaroslaw Kaczynski announced in a video contribution. The first of these questions will be: “Do you support the sell-off of state-owned companies?”
Kaczynski further said: “The Germans want to embed Donald Tusk in Poland in order to privatize and sell Polish assets.” Tusk is the leader of Poland’s largest opposition party, the liberal-conservative Civic Platform (PO).
The government in Warsaw had originally announced that it wanted the population to vote on European migration policy in a referendum parallel to the parliamentary elections. The PiS wants to announce the remaining questions for the referendum in the coming days.
Kaczynski: “True enemy of our people”
The former Polish head of government and former EU Council President Tusk has long been attacked by the PiS with the insinuation that he is acting on behalf of Germany.
At the end of July, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki attacked the opposition leader on Twitter: “Today the face of lies in politics has a face – Donald Tusk.” Three weeks ago, Kaczynski described Tusk as a “true enemy of our people.” The former head of government should never come back to power in Poland. “Should he go to his Germany and cause damage there!” Kaczynski said at a party event.
Uncertain outcome expected
After eight years in power, the ruling party PiS has to fear for its governing majority in the parliamentary elections in autumn. In the past, she has often clashed with the EU institutions, including on the issue of the rule of law. The government in Warsaw is under great pressure. At the beginning of June, hundreds of thousands of people demonstrated in the capital against the policies of the governing coalition – the largest street protest since the end of communism in 1989.
In a survey by the Ibris institute at the beginning of August, the PiS still had the largest share of the vote with 33.4 percent. But that would mean she would miss out on an absolute majority and could have to rely on the formation of a coalition. The kingmaker could then be the far-right party Confederation, which according to the polls is at 12.7 percent. Tusk’s liberal civic platform was last at 26.2 percent. However, according to polls, it is not foreseeable that the divided opposition could win a majority.