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Poland’s Law and Justice Has Five-Point Edge
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The governing Law and Justice Party (PiS) is holding on to the top spot before this Sunday’s election in Poland, according to a poll by PBS DGA published in Gazeta Wyborcza. 38 per cent of respondents would vote for the PiS in the legislative ballot.
The opposition Civic Platform (PO) is second with 33 per cent, followed by the Left and Democracy (LiD) coalition with 13 per cent, the Peasant’s Party (PSL) with seven per cent, the League of Polish Families (LPR) with four per cent, and the Self-Defence of the Polish Republic (SRP) with three per cent. Under the country’s proportional representation system, a party must receive at least five per cent of the vote—and a coalition at least eight per cent—to elect members.
In September 2005, voters in Poland renewed their legislative branch. Final results gave the PiS 26.9 per cent of the vote and 155 lawmakers in the 460-seat lower house. In October, economic expert Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz took over as prime minister and Lech Kaczynski won the presidential election. The coalition government included the PiS, the SRP and the LPR. In July 2006, following Marcinkiewicz’s resignation, Polish president Lech Kaczynski appointed PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski—his twin brother—as the country’s new prime minister.
In July 2007, Lech Kaczynski dismissed agricultural minister and SRP leader Andrzej Lepper over a bribery scandal. The coalition government officially collapsed on Sept. 7, when Poland’s lower house was dissolved after a 377-54 vote, in a motion called by the LiD. An early legislative ballot is scheduled for Oct. 21.
On Oct. 12, during a televised debate, PO leader Donald Tusk criticized Jaroslaw Kaczynski, saying, "You say we’ve gained a lot from our ties with the U.S. But you don’t name a thing. Where are the visas, where are the business deals?"
Kaczynski replied: "Once you go (into Iraq) and are already there, desertion is the worst and the stupidest solution. We have gained a lot from the United States. We became a noted country. Today, that is the one country that in a pinch—and that’s happened before—can help us, and we need that kind of alliance."
Polling Data
What party would you support in the next election?
|
Oct. 11 |
Oct. 10 |
Oct. 4 |
|
|
Law and Justice Party (PiS) |
38% |
36% |
36% |
|
Civic Platform (PO) |
33% |
32% |
31% |
|
Left and Democracy (LiD) |
13% |
15% |
16% |
|
Peasant’s Party (PSL) |
7% |
7% |
5% |
|
League of Polish Families (LPR) |
4% |
5% |
3% |
|
Self-Defence of the Polish Republic (SRP) |
3% |
4% |
6% |
Source: PBS DGA / Gazeta Wyborcza
Methodology: Telephone interviews with 1,110 Polish adults, conducted from Oct. 9 to Oct. 11, 2007. Margin of error is 3 per cent.