The streets of the capital Polish, forced rest for several months, swarmed, this weekend, protesters: against vaccines, in solidarity with the Belarusians, to support presidential candidates … striking entrepreneurs
did not miss their weekly meeting.
Born before the end of confinement, this movement, which resembles the French yellow vests, but without violence
, according to its leader, Pawel Tanajno, has become the symbol of dissatisfaction linked to the management of the crisis by the government, and in particular, containment. It’s up to us, the entrepreneurs, to pay the price,
said Marcin, 47, owner of a small telecom company.
It’s a question of economic but also political freedom! We want more direct democracy. “
“I pay my employees with my personal savings! “
Kasia, a 34-year-old lawyer, joined the procession: I campaigned against PiS (the ruling ultra-conservative party) and the justice reform in 2015, but it was useless, so I stopped.
Until joining the “striking entrepreneurs” because Pawel Tanajno criticizes all governments since the end of communism, he offers a real alternative. He’s one of us, but he also brings workers together. And he understands the economy, and the importance of private property.
Candidate for presidential to be held on June 28, Pawel Tanajno believes that the four anti-crisis shields
of the government are useless because they are so complicated to set up that many of us are not entitled to them. I have SMEs in the tourism sector and I pay my employees with my personal savings!
While precarious workers, particularly immigrants, were the first to suffer from the downturn in the economy, the middle class was not spared. More than half of Poles consider themselves to be part of it, and 45% of them have no savings. With the drop in wages, budgetary choices experienced as downgrading had to be made: giving up the car, going out, going to private school for children.
A jostled Polish model
Has the Covid-19 epidemic precipitated Poland into the economic crisis less brutally than the rest of European countries, with growth forecast for 2020 at -4.3% (-8.2% in France)? However, it has shaken up the Polish model. The unemployment rate should more than double in the coming months, to 9-10%. However, the allowances are extremely low (around € 130 per month). MEPs have just voted emergency aid worth a few hundred euros, available only from June. Three weeks before the presidential election, the thorny issue of reforming the welfare state has finally become part of the campaign.
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