(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Public support for Poland’s opposition Civic Platform (PO) slightly decreased last month, according to a poll by PBS DGA published in Gazeta Wyborcza. 31 per cent of respondents would back the PO in the next general election, down two points since early August.

The ruling Law and Justice Party (PiS) is second with 22 per cent, followed by the Left and Democracy (LiD) coalition with 11 per cent, the League for Self-Defence (LiS) with six per cent, and the Peasant’s Party (PSL) with four per cent.       

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 Self-Defence of the Polish Republic (SRP) and the League of Polish Families (LPR).

In July 2006, deputy prime minister and SRP leader Andrzej Lepper announced that Marcinkiewicz would resign after he made some decisions without consulting his coalition partners. Polish president Lech Kaczynski appointed PiS leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski—his twin brother—as the country’s new prime minister.

On Jul. 9, Polish president Lech Kaczynski dismissed Lepper—who also served as agricultural minister—after a government agency accused him of being involved in a bribery scandal. On Aug. 13, the president discharged the four cabinet ministers who are not members of the PiS. An early election is expected to take place in October.

On Aug. 30, officers from the country’s Internal Security agency arrested former interior minister Janusz Kaczmarek for allegedly leaking classified information. Kaczmarek had previously accused the government of spying on journalists and opposition politicians.

LPR leader Roman Giertych accused Jaroslaw Kaczynski of “using prosecutors and the secret services for political goals” following Kaczmarek’s arrest. The prime minister denied the accusation, saying, “These (arrests) occurred in the normal run of the justice system, and placing them in any other context is groundless.”

Polling Data

What party would you support in the next election?

Source: PBS DGA / Gazeta Wyborcza
Methodology: Interviews to 1,069 Polish adults, conducted on Aug. 25 and Aug. 26, 2007. Margin of error is 3.2 per cent.

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