Polish Elections

La Repubblica writes that LGBT rights have become central in the political debate in Poland ahead of the elections, pointing out that presidential candidate Andrzej Duda has been relying on homophobic rhetoric for his campaign. Duda recently proposed a constitutional reform to prevent same-sex couples from marrying or adopting children. Furthermore, he vows to ban teaching about LGBT issues in schools. His opponent, Rafal Trzaskowski, despite his much more progressive agenda, shares Duda’s stance on preventing same-sex couple from adopting children. According to the polls, Duda is the favourite candidate and many observers argue that voters would rather support his anti-European and anti-LGBT rhetoric. However, it won’t be easy for Duda to keep his promises since the Law and Justice (PiS) party has no majority in the Polish parliament at the moment.

iRozhlas writes that it is evident that incumbent Andrzej Duda has an unfair advantage over his opponent Rafal Trzaskowski in the elections. President Duda is backed by the entire government, the governing party and the biased state television and radio. Trzaskowski, on the other hand, is supported by big cities and educated Poles who feel that Poland is ready for change. This election is a tipping point for Poland, as it decides to either strengthen the far-right or conform to EU values. iRozhlas notes that a key figure in the background of the election is Jaroslaw Kaczyński, the leader of the Law and Justice Party (PiS), who controls Duda, the prime minister, the government and ministers, the Polish television, large semi-state companies and institutions of historical memory. For Trzaskowski to win this election, he must obtain all the votes from those who rejected Duda in the first round of the elections, with 7% of voters currently still undecided according to the polls.

Poland’s young voters may decide the fate of the second round of the upcoming presidential elections, Libération reports. Estimates reveal that nearly 65% of the voters under 30 voted in the first round in June, representing a much higher percentage than in the rest of Europe. At the same time, young people in Poland have been voting disproportionately more for far right-wing parties in recent years. In the first round of the presidential elections they showed more support for the outsiders, such as the nationalist Krzysztof Bosak and the centrist Szymon Hołownia. Frustration and scepticism with the parties of the older generation seem to be the main drivers of the lack of trust of young people towards Civic Platform (PO) and Law and Justice (PiS). Both candidates in this tête-à-tête race have included promises in the programme that aim to attract young voters.

Die Tageschau reports that Poland has accused Germany of trying to interfere in their election via the media. Deputy Foreign Minister Szymon Szynkowski vel Sęk has accused German newspapers of “manipulative” reporting and of having a bias in favor of a candidate. President Duda criticised the coverage by the tabloid "Fakt" as well Philipp Fritz, a correspondent for ‘Die Welt’, who had stated that Trzakoswki would be a better President as he did not insist on German reparation payments for damage caused during the Second World War. Meanwhile, there have been concerns over freedom of the press in Poland within members of the Bundestag as well as in the EU. The PiS-party has countered with accusations of foreign-owned media trying to interfere in Polish affairs. Tagesschau notes that during the first round of the election, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) highlighted a bias reporting on Public Television in support of Duda. Poland currently ranks 62nd out of 180 in RWB’s ranking for freedom of the press.