Since 2015, the right-wing conservative party PiS (Law and Justice) has formed the Polish government. But the country is divided, between residents who cling to the traditions of the Church and those who progress. Political preference is sensitive in Poland. To avoid conflicts, this topic is often avoided. Everywhere: between families, friends and colleagues.
‘It is difficult to have calm discussions’
“I speak less to some friends in my area, because they know that I vote for PiS. These are extreme cases. The other way around, too, sometimes I stopped the contact. Having quiet discussions on this subject is difficult. There are plenty of other things to discuss “, says Piotr from Warsaw. He is 71 years old, a physicist at the Warsaw Academy, and has been voting for PiS for about twelve years.
At first, winning the election seemed like a piece of cake for incumbent President Andrzej Duda. In February he was still the most popular Polish politician. But the corona virus threw a spanner in the works.
Blow of corona
The elections were originally supposed to be held on May 10, but because the country was in the midst of the corona pandemic at the time it was postponed. If it were up to Duda and his party, the elections would be held as soon as possible.
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The earlier the elections, the more likely the President would be re-elected. The ruling party wanted the elections to continue by post, a proposal rejected by the opposition for fear of public health, chaos and possible tampering.
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President Duda received criticism. Poland also started to feel the economic consequences of the corona crisis. And so his popularity began to decline and the party got resistance: that has hardly happened in the past five years.
Anti-lhbti
The president began to feel pressure and again conducted extensive campaigns. On his twitter page you can see that he takes little account of the corona rules. Earlier, the president even claimed that the virus had been defeated in the country.
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An important spearhead of these champagnes became: anti-LGBTI. Duda called the “LGBTI ideology worse than communism.” Lesbians, gays, queers and trans people are said to threaten Polish values according to PiS.
This even goes so far that so-called ‘gay-free zones’ have been established in some 80 places, especially in south-eastern Poland. This does not mean that only cis straight people may enter these areas, but it does mean that these places speak out against the so-called ‘gay ideology’. Is official a third of the country declared ‘gay free’.
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How does PiS voter Piotr feel about PiS’s anti-gay views? “I don’t really know what that means, for or against gay rights. I have really good friends who are gay and I have nothing against it. What they do privately is completely fine. I just don’t want my religion to be threatened . “
“In my mind is the definition of ‘marriage’ between husband and wife. In recent weeks there have been many LGBTI demonstrations in our country. Then they say they want ‘love for everyone’, but at the same time they say very aggressive things about the church.” And that is not acceptable to Piotr.
Rival: Liberal Trzaskowski
In Poland about 50 percent against LGBTI rights. The anti-gay positions oppose the points of one of Duda’s biggest rivals: presidential candidate Rafał Trzaskowski, liberal mayor of Warsaw.
He advocates more attention for LGBTI people and better sex education. After the election was postponed in May, Trzaskowski was suddenly put forward as a presidential candidate for opposition party KO (Civic Platform).
The mayor of the capital does particularly well in the major cities and in the west of the country. Current President Duda relies mainly on the east and the countryside. This is a well-known pattern in Poland.
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So the first round of elections will be held tomorrow. If one presidential candidate gets no more than 50 percent of the vote, a second round will be held on July 12. In it, the two candidates with the most votes compete against each other.
Second round needed
President Duda is still standing at the top of the pollsbut it is expected that a second round will be needed. In that round it could get exciting for President Duda.
“I understand that it is difficult from the Netherlands to understand what is going on in Poland. The countries are different. In Poland, the economy is not as stable as with you. President Duda is active; since he has been in power, changes have been going on He also looks after the people who have less, I think that’s important, ”says Piotr.
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