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Smaller Parties Set To Benefit From Election Debate As PM Contenders Trade Barbs

POLAND
  • Representatives of smaller opposition parties were arguably the main winners of yesterday's election debate organised by public TV as they seized the opportunity to outline their policy agendas and call for depolarisation, while the main contenders for the PM position used most of their allocated time to exchange barbs. Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki's remarks were entirely devoted to attacks on opposition leader Donald Tusk and his record as head of government between 2007-2014, a sign of the ruling party staying on the defensive and seeking to mobilise its core electorate rather than capture undecided voters. Tusk responded in kind, opening up space for his potential coalition partners to focus on appealing to certain niches of the electorate. Initial commentary suggested that Szymon Holownia of the centre-right Third Way alliance was the clear outperformer, which may help his bloc make it past the 8% electoral threshold for coalitions, reducing the odds of the incumbents securing absolute majority. Relatively solid performance by the New Left's Joanna Scheuring-Wielgus and Confederation's Krzysztof Bosak cemented expectations of their respective parties getting into parliament.
  • An overwhelming majority of respondents (67%) in an opinion poll for Super Express said that Mateusz Morawiecki should become Prime Minister, if his Law and Justice party wins re-election, with party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski polling at just 10%. Main opposition Civic Coalition leader Donald Tusk (39%) and Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski (38%) were virtually tied as preferred candidates for Prime Minister in a scenario where the opposition takes power.
  • Agriculture Minister Robert Telus pledged that all municipalities with a population of less than 20k and record a turnout of more than 60% in the upcoming elections will be rewarded with additional funds for their local associations or music groups. The government had earlier pledged to support the modernisation of fire stations in small municipalities with the highest turnout. The ostensibly pro-participation measures are seen as an attempt to boost the turnout in rural districts, which are the ruling party's electoral stronghold.

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