Beata Szydło, a senior politician with the ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party, canvassed voters in the southern town of Myślenice in a final push before a ban on campaigning was due to kick in at midnight, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Equal opportunity for all: ex-PM
Szydło, a former prime minister who is now a member of the European Parliament, said her party aimed to foster “national development based on solidarity” so that “everyone can benefit from the country's growth.”
She added that the government was working to ensure “decent living standards” and “equal opportunities” for all Poles, “no matter in which part of the country they live.”
Opposition aiming for victory: MP
Meanwhile, Barbara Nowacka, an MP with the centrist Civic Coalition (KO), the main opposition grouping, held an end-of-campaign media briefing in the Baltic resort of Sopot, the PAP news agency reported.
Summarising almost 70 days of campaigning, she said: “The Civic Coalition is aiming for victory. Now we know that the democratic opposition is strong and stable.”
Nowacka declared: “We have one goal - to beat Law and Justice. This is our mission.”
New gov't must 'restore rule of law': centre-right leader
Szymon Hołownia and Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, the leaders of the centre-right Third Way alliance, held a joint press conference in Warsaw, the PAP news agency reported.
Hołownia said the first task of the new government formed after the elections should be to “reconcile various sections” of Polish society, as “without reconciliation there won’t be a better Poland.”
Kosiniak-Kamysz added that the new Cabinet would need to “restore the rule of law” and “strengthen our position in the European Union.”
Leftists promise hefty pay raises
Another opposition grouping, the New Left, held an end-of-campaign media briefing in the capital Warsaw, the PAP news agency reported.
The party’s lawmaker Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk pledged that the New Left would ensure “a major pay rise” for public sector employees, "by at least 20 percent," if it becomes part of the new government.
Dziemianowicz-Bąk added that the New Left would also secure decent working conditions for young employees, including contracts of employment with “fully-paid sick leave.”
Far-right eyes role as kingmaker
Sławomir Mentzen, one of the leaders of the far-right Confederation grouping, met with voters in the southeastern city of Rzeszów, the Rzeszów24.info website reported.
Mentzen said the Confederation was on track to “win around 40 seats in the Sejm," the lower house of Poland's parliament, and "therefore prevent" each of the two main groupings, Law and Justice and the Civic Coalition, from securing a majority and forming their own government.
He outlined his grouping’s policies, including pledges to lower taxes, and dismissed media reports that the Confederation could form a coalition with either Law and Justice or the Civic Coalition.
'Energy and freshness': Non-Partisan Activists
Meanwhile, the Non-Partisan Local Government Activists grouping summarised its election campaign in the southwestern city of Wrocław, the wnp.pl website reported.
One of the group’s leaders, Krzysztof Maj, said it had carried out “a forward-looking campaign, characterised by energy and freshness.”
The Non-Partisan Local Government Activists reiterated their main policy pledges, such as reducing personal income tax to 0 percent, abolishing fares for public transport and ensuring free meals for schoolchildren.
Poland to elect new parliament on October 15
Poles will head to the ballot box to vote in parliamentary elections on Sunday. They will elect 460 MPs and 100 senators for a four-year term.
Seeking a third term in power, the ruling Law and Justice party appears to be running ahead of an opposition divided into separate blocs.
But if they win the election, the governing conservatives may not be able to form a majority in parliament on their own, according to the latest polls.
Poles to vote in referendum
In August, Poland's lawmakers approved a plan to combine parliamentary elections with a nationwide referendum asking Poles whether their country should accept migrants from the Middle East and Africa, whether state companies can be sold to foreign buyers, whether the retirement age should be increased, and whether a wall on Poland's border with Belarus should be dismantled.
The ruling conservatives have encouraged people to cast their ballots in the referendum, while the opposition has asked voters to boycott it, saying the referendum questions are worded in a biased way and contain misleading information designed to boost support for the government.
(pm/gs)
Source: PAP, National Electoral Committee PKW, Rzeszów24.info, wnp.pl