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Poland’s left-wing opposition girds for election battle

18.08.2023 22:30
Poland’s New Left opposition party on Friday unveiled its candidates for MPs and vowed to fight to win October's parliamentary elections together with other opposition groups “for the good of the country.”
The leaders of Polands New Left group, Włodzimierz Czarzasty (centre) and Robert Biedroń (second from left), attend a news conference in Warsaw on Friday, August 18, 2023.
The leaders of Poland's New Left group, Włodzimierz Czarzasty (centre) and Robert Biedroń (second from left), attend a news conference in Warsaw on Friday, August 18, 2023. PAP/Andrzej Lange

New Left co-leader Włodzimierz Czarzasty told a news conference that his group would field 920 candidates for the 460 seats in the lower house of parliament, while maintaining parity between men and women, Polish state news agency PAP reported.

Czarzasty declared: “We are aiming to win … and secure good things for our country, alongside our partners in the opposition, the Third Way alliance and the Civic Coalition (KO). We are prepared for this battle.”

The party's other leader, Robert Biedroń, called on his “friends in the opposition” to team up ahead of elections to the lower house, the Sejm.

On Thursday, Poland's opposition parties agreed to join forces in the race for the Senate, the upper house.

Biedroń said on Friday that a similar “Sejm Pact” should include “a shared policy manifesto” of the opposition, including "a commitment to Poland’s membership of the European Union, the rule of law and the constitution," the PAP news agency reported.  

The “Sejm Pact” should also cover cooperation in government to make sure that “the day after election victory,” the parties currently in opposition "begin to form a new Cabinet and run the country together,” Biedroń told reporters

He also declared the New Left party was “ready for the election” and encouraged the public to cast their votes for leftist candidates, the PAP news agency reported.

Poland's 2023 parliamentary elections

Poland's lawmakers on Thursday approved a government plan to combine the parliamentary elections on October 15 with a nationwide referendum on issues including illegal migration.

In the parliamentary elections, Poles will head to the ballot box to elect 460 new MPs and 100 senators for a four-year term.

The ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party has maintained a clear lead over the opposition in most recent surveys, polling ahead of the centrist Civic Coalition (KO) and the far-right Confederation group.

The ruling conservatives in 2019 won a convincing victory over opposition parties at the ballot box, securing a second term in power.

(pm/gs)

Source: PAP, Polsat News