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  • Polish Election approaches

    Rightists expected to secure election

    By Bruce I. Konviser
    THE WASHINGTON TIMES
    September 25, 2005

    WARSAW -- No government has been re-elected in Poland since the fall of communism in 1989, and that trend looks set to continue with today's vote. After four years of left-wing rule, the pendulum is set to swing again -- this time to the right.

    A final pre-election public opinion poll showed two right-wing parties -- both descendents of the former Solidarity movement -- suddenly in a close battle for the lead.

    Just a week ago the conservative Civic Platform (PO) was leading its right-wing rival, Law and Justice (PiS), by as much as 18 points. But the latest poll showed the PO leading by just 2 points, with 32 percent of the vote.

    The incumbent Democratic Left-Alliance, made up of former communists, is holding on to third place with 13 percent.

    The two conservative parties insist they want to form a coalition, and both are hoping for a constitutional majority -- two-thirds of the 460 seats in the lower house of parliament -- in order to carry out dramatic, if not radical, changes.

    But the two parties differ on some fundamental issues. The PO is economically more market oriented, while being socially liberal. The PiS is very conservative socially, while favoring more state intervention in the economy.

    Both parties talk confidently of forming a coalition, but many, including political analyst Edmund Wnuk-Lipinski, are skeptical.

    "Their economic programs are so different, I can hardly imagine a coalition," he said. "The PiS is certainly not [economically] liberal. They believe state influence over the economy is important. They're right-wing because of their cultural program."

    That program, influenced by the Catholic Church, advocates a strengthening of law and order, according to Adam Bielan who is a member of the European Parliament and a campaign coordinator for the PiS.

    "We're calling for a moral revolution," Mr. Bielan said in an interview. "Corruption is so big that it can only be changed with a shock."

    Poland has struggled with exceptionally high unemployment and widespread corruption since the fall of communism in 1989 and needs to make a fresh start, he explained.

    He said his party is committed to cracking down on high-level corruption as well as low-level criminality. He cited a need for harsher penalties for criminals, pointing to the lack of a "life sentence" in the judicial process.

    Meanwhile. the PO wants to slash government -- including abolishing the upper house of parliament, the Senate -- and slashing the number of seats in the lower house from 460 to 230, said Lukas Pawlowski of the PO's public relations office.

    Talk of radical change is not causing alarm in Poland. Eliza Durka, editor in chief of the Warsaw Business Journal, an English language weekly newspaper, said she's optimistic about the new government but warns it must focus on reforms.

    http://insider.washingtontimes.com/a...4-111439-2396r

  • #2
    Poland veers to right at election
    Conservative and centre-right parties in Poland have ousted the left in the general election, exit polls indicate.

    The polls put the Law and Justice Party (PiS) in the lead at about 28% of the vote, followed by its centrist ally Civic Platform (PO) on about 24%.

    Correspondents say voters were angry with the ruling left over a series of corruption scandals and their failure to bring down unemployment.

    The polls are Poland's first since joining the European Union in May 2004.

    The elections chose the 460-member lower house of parliament while the country will go back to the polls in two weeks to elect a new president.

    Turnout among the 30 million Poles eligible to vote appeared to be less than 40%, compared to 46% at the last election in 2001.

    The new government, the BBC's Adam Easton reports, will have its work cut out winning broad support as many Poles simply do not trust their politicians.

    Economic reform

    "Everything points to us having won this election," PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski told party supporters in Warsaw.

    The two centre-right parties are both rooted in the anti-communist Solidarity movement but differ on issues such as the budget and taxation.

    PiS, whose agenda includes tax breaks and state aid for the poor, has pledged to uphold traditional family and Christian values. It is suspicious of economic liberalism.

    PO strongly promotes free market forces and wanted to introduce a flat 15% rate for income tax, corporation tax and VAT.

    It also promised to move faster on deregulation and privatisation, in order to adopt the euro as soon as possible.

    It had been in the lead for much of the campaign but conceded that their plans for the flat tax plan may have been a mistake, said the BBC's Mike Sanders in Warsaw.

    "I was hesitating," jobless voter Andrzej Sulkowski told the Associated Press news agency.

    "PiS would have been better on economic issues but maybe it would have offered less equality."

    Twin arrangement

    Since the fall of communism in 1989, no Polish government has been re-elected.

    Exit polls suggest the ruling Democratic Left Alliance (SLD), finished third at a little over 11% - a better score than predicted but disastrous compared to 41% in 2001.

    The party led Poland into the European Union last year but was hit by scandals and by a jobless figure of nearly 20%.

    Coming just behind it on Sunday, exit polls suggest, was the radical Self-Defence party on 10%.

    SLD has also suffered a blow in its bid at the presidential election in October since former foreign minister Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz pulled out of the race amidst concerns over his share dealings.

    Analysts say the field is now open to PO's Donald Tusk and PiS' Lech Kaczynski.

    Lech's twin brother, Jaroslaw Kaczynski, pledged again on Sunday not to accept the prime minister's job in the new government if his sibling wins.

    Consequently Poland will not know the name of its new prime minister until next month.

    Story from BBC NEWS:
    http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/h...pe/4279562.stm

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    • #3
      Polish Candidates Headed for Runoff
      As Battle for Presidency Heads Toward Runoff in Poland, Top 2 Candidates Struggle to Boost Support
      By RYAN LUCAS
      The Associated Press

      WYSOKIE MAZOWIECKIE, Poland - Warsaw's tough-talking mayor took his message of family values and moral renewal to northeastern Poland on Monday in the fight for the presidency, while his rival sought the support of anti-communist legend Lech Walesa.

      Both Mayor Lech Kaczynski and pro-market lawmaker Donald Tusk failed to win a majority in the first round of Sunday's presidential vote and will meet in a second round Oct. 23. Tusk won 36 percent of the vote and Kaczynski 33 percent. Ten other candidates shared the rest.

      Whoever wins the presidency will have an important role in overseeing foreign policy and new legislation as this ex-communist country struggles for influence in the grouping.

      The winner will also have to decide whether to carry out the outgoing government's plans to withdraw 1,500 Polish troops from Iraq early next year.

      Poland is also still struggling to build a coalition government following parliamentary elections after. Kaczynski's Law and Justice party and Tusk's pro-business Civic Platform took a combined majority in the Sept. 25 vote.

      Both elections have centered on how far to go in sacrificing welfare state protections for the promise of an American-style economy with faster growth and job creation. Tusk wants pro-business measures, such as a 15 percent flat tax rate on personal and corporate earnings. Kaczynski favors a greater role for the state in protecting the social safety net and promoting Roman Catholic values.

      Kaczynski traveled 100 miles to Wysokie Mazowieckie, a small town set amid flat farmland in northeastern Poland that voted more strongly in his favor with 56 percent than any other locality.

      He thanked supporters and repeated that his economic vision represents security and not "a liberal experiment."

      Flanked by red and white national flags and townspeople in centuries-old costumes, Kaczynski moved easily through the crowd, kissing women's hands and signing campaign placards with his campaign motto: "A Strong President, An Honest Poland."

      "To the end of my life ... I will remember this day and the support I received here," he told the crowd of about 250 people, as a brass brand banged out tunes.

      In Gdansk, Tusk met privately with Walesa to seek ways the Solidarity movement's founder and former president might lend his stature to the campaign. He also promised to take his message directly to the voters.

      "I am prepared for the campaign to be even stronger and harsher than so far," he said.

      The elimination of 10 candidates from the runoff makes it hard to predict how the last round would play out. Kaczynski appeared likely to benefit most, as he could pick up support from the left-wing populist Andrzej Lepper's voters, who support the state's having a strong role in job creation. He took 15 percent in the first round.

      Tusk was expected to pick up many among the supporters of left-winger Marek Borowski, who dislike Kaczynski's strong anti-communist rhetoric and conservative social views. Borowski took 10 percent in the first round.

      Either outcome will add to the battering of the left, which suffered a stinging defeat in the parliamentary balloting and shrank to just 55 seats in parliament from 148.

      http://abcnews.go.com/International/print?id=1200308

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