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Poland’s Third Way alliance pledges to fund student dormitories

27.09.2023 21:30
Poland’s Third Way political grouping has promised to subsidise dormitory accommodation for students from poorer backgrounds to help them gain university education in the big cities.
Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, co-leader of the Third Way alliance, meets voters in the western Polish city of Zielona Gora on Wednesday, September 27, 2023.
Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, co-leader of the Third Way alliance, meets voters in the western Polish city of Zielona Gora on Wednesday, September 27, 2023. PAP/Lech Muszyński

Third Way’s co-leader Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz reiterated the pledge at a meeting with voters in the western town of Wolsztyn on Wednesday, Polish state news agency PAP reported. 

He presented the twelve policy pledges that make up the Third Way’s  manifesto ahead of the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 15, according to news outlets.

They include a plan to subsidise dormitory accommodation in the big cities, to make university education more affordable for students from Poland’s towns and villages, the PAP news agency reported.

The Third Way has also pledged to promote energy prosumption from renewable sources, such as sun, wind and biogas, to reduce costs and protect the environment; to spend 6% of GDP on education; and to eliminate the gender pay gap, among other proposals. 

Kosiniak-Kamysz also told voters in Wolsztyn that Poland’s ruling conservatives Law and Justice (PiS) were seeking to persuade the Catholic Church to back their party in the electoral campaign. 

He said that “politics must be removed from the Catholic Church,” as quoted by the PAP news agency. 

The Third Way alliance comprises the rural-based Polish People’s Party (PSL), led by Kosiniak-Kamysz, and the centre-right Poland 2050 grouping. 

Last month, Poland's lawmakers approved a government plan to combine the parliamentary elections scheduled for October 15, with a nationwide referendum on issues including the retirement age and illegal migration.

Voters 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 party and its government coalition allies have maintained a clear lead over the opposition in most recent surveys, polling ahead of the centrist Civic Coalition (KO), the far-right Confederation group, and the Third Way coalition of the rural-based Polish People’s Party (PSL) and the centre-right Poland 2050 grouping.

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

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Source: PAP, 300polityka, Polska2050