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Poland’s PiS pledges new policies if it holds onto power

07.10.2019 16:30
Poland’s ruling conservatives on Monday said they will bring on a raft of new policies if they retain power after upcoming parliamentary elections.
Jarosław Kaczyński, head of Polands governing conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, speaks at a news conference in Warsaw on Monday.
Jarosław Kaczyński, head of Poland's governing conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, speaks at a news conference in Warsaw on Monday.Photo: PAP/Paweł Supernak

Conservative leader Jarosław Kaczyński said his ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party would draft new laws and carry out new programmes during the first 100 days of its next term in government—if it wins elections on Sunday and holds onto power for the next four years.

Kaczyński told a press conference his party’s “100 Days Five-Pack” of pledges contained a range of new and previously announced policies.

Commitments for the first 100 days of the next term include reduced social insurance contributions for small businesses and special bonuses for pensioners, Kaczyński said at a joint news conference with Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

He also listed new free medical tests for citizens aged over 40, a programme of building 100 beltways for Polish cities, and plans for increased payouts for Polish farmers to bring these in line with EU subsidies for agricultural producers in Western Europe.

Kaczyński told reporters that his party “has brought credibility” to Polish politics, a quality that he argues was missing under the country's previous governments.

"Ahead of the previous elections we announced a platform of pledges and we have delivered" on these promises, he said.

Poles will head to the ballot box to vote in parliamentary elections on October 13.

They will elect 460 MPs and 100 senators for a four-year term.

With election day less a week away, the country’s ruling conservatives appear to be running ahead of an opposition divided into separate blocs, according to the latest polls.

The governing conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, allied with two smaller groupings in a United Right coalition, is seeking a second term in power after a landslide win in 2015.

Seventy-seven percent of respondents to a recent survey said they intended to vote in the upcoming ballot.

The Law and Justice party at the weekend won a mock election in a town in central Poland, with a strong edge over its nearest rival, in a test of voter sentiment ahead of the October 13 ballot.

(gs/pk)

Source: TVP Info, PAP