(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Many people in Poland want the governing Civic Platform (PO) party to stay in office, according to a poll by PBS DGA published in Gazeta Wyborcza. 49 per cent of respondents would vote for the conservative party in the next election, up one point since early October.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – Many people in Poland want the governing Civic Platform (PO) party to stay in office, according to a poll by PBS DGA published in Gazeta Wyborcza. 49 per cent of respondents would vote for the conservative party in the next election, up one point since early October.
The opposition Law and Justice Party (PiS) is in second place with 26 per cent, followed by the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) with eight per cent, and the Peasant’s Party (PSL) with five per cent.
In October 2007, Polish voters renewed the Diet, or lower house of Parliament. Final results gave the PO 41.51 per cent of the vote and 209 seats, followed by the PiS with 32.11 per cent and 166 seats. In November, the PO and the PSL—who together hold 240 seats in the 460-member Diet—agreed to form a coalition government. PO leader Donald Tusk was sworn in as prime minister.
In Poland, the definition of presidential powers declares that the head of state is the "guardian of Polish sovereignty and security" who "co-operates" with the government. Prime minister Tusk suggested in 2008 that Polish president Lech Kaczynski—whose twin brother Jaroslaw leads the opposition PiS—is overstepping his role.
Poland joined the European Union (EU) in 2004. In September 2008, Tusk announced that the country would adopt the euro by 2012.
On Oct. 10, Polish president Kaczynski signed Poland’s ratification of the Lisbon Treaty—a new proposed body of law for all EU members. Tusk expressed his satisfaction, declaring that the treaty gives "a greater sense of security and solidarity to nations especially heavily experienced by history, of which Poland is one."
The next legislative election in Poland is due in the fall of 2011.
Polling Data
What party would you support in the next election?
|
|
Oct. 18
|
Oct. 2
|
Jul. 2009
|
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Civic Platform (PO)
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49%
|
48%
|
45%
|
|
Law and Justice Party (PiS)
|
26%
|
28%
|
29%
|
|
Democratic Left Alliance (SLD)
|
8%
|
10%
|
11%
|
|
Peasant’s Party (PSL)
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5%
|
6%
|
6%
|
Source: PBS DGA / Gazeta Wyborcza
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,019 Polish adults, conducted from Oct. 16 to Oct. 18, 2009. Margin of error is 3 per cent.
