Warsaw: Poland’s ruling pro-European coalition party hopes Sunday’s local elections will end the “era of populism” heralded by the former nationalist government.
The vote is seen as the first test for Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s government’s centre-left coalition ahead of October’s general election.
Voters in the 38 million NATO member states will elect mayors and members of local and regional governments from among nearly 200,000 candidates.
A vote at the national level “will be similar to a referendum on political parties,” Stanislaw Mocek, a professor at Civitas University College in Warsaw, told AFP in an interview.
Polls show Tusk’s centrist Civic Coalition (KO) neck and neck with the nationalist Law and Justice Party (PiS), which ruled the country until last year, with both holding less than 30 percent.
The election may be a national test for both parties, but the vote is important for the country’s 16 regional councils.
Members of the governing coalition, which operate separately, expect all but one of them to win.
KO will help its allies, the Christian Democratic Third Way and the Left Party, to dominate the pro-European camp.
PiS, which currently governs five regions, could join the right-wing Confederation or smaller regional groups after the vote.
Anna Materska-Sosnowska, an analyst at the Stefan Báthory Foundation, said a victory for the pro-EU coalition would ensure a “rejection of democratic tendencies” among the country’s voters.
Tusk, who was president of the European Council from 2014 to 2019, highlighted the issue during the campaign, saying that the country had “restored the rule of law now” after PiS’s rule.
Rafal Trzaskowski, the mayor of Warsaw who wants to extend his term in the elections, said on Friday that “the second round of this rally is necessary to end the era of populism represented by PiS”.
Pro-Western parties should also win big, because Tusk’s government faces criticism from some voters for slow reforms after his first 100 days in office.
Materska-Sosnowska said the election of PiS, the largest party in parliament, was “an opportunity to see what kind of support we can build”.
At the national level, PiS hopes to become the largest party in the country, raising hopes of one day returning to power.
Analysts say the loss of KO could lead to the long-term collapse of the party led by Osaroslaw Kaczynski.
Former PiS Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki recently warned that his party “must be prepared for a tough race”.
PiS can count on loyal voters in small towns and rural areas, especially in eastern and southeastern Poland.
The ruling coalition will dominate the big cities.
In Warsaw, Trzaskowski will replace the mayor in the first round.
Two weeks later, it will be a big surprise to qualify for the second round.
The election campaign focused mainly on local issues such as transport, housing and strengthening local and regional government after years of centralization by PiS.
The campaign was marked by farmers’ protests against the EU’s Green Deal and cheap wheat imports from Ukraine.
Protesters were angered by financial scandals linked to the previous government and a rift between the ruling coalition and proposals to liberalize abortion laws in the predominantly Catholic country.
A record 74.4 percent was expected in last year’s general election, which brought Tusk’s coalition to power.
Polling stations will open at 0500 GMT and close at 1900 GMT on Sunday, and ballots will be published shortly afterwards. APPLICATIONS
