"Super Saturday" Overshadowed By Events In Russia

All major Polish political parties held campaign events on Saturday, but the short-lived rebellion of the Russian Wagner Group and related national security concerns overshadowed domestic politics. The series of conventions and rallies, however, offered some indication of how the main parties intend to shape their strategies for the upcoming parliamentary election.

• The ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party held its campaign rally in Bogatynia, which hosts Turow Coal Mine - a subject of Poland's long-standing legal dispute with neighbouring Czechia and the EU. The site helped reinforce the party's message of defending national sovereignty.
• The main opposition Civic Platform (PO) countered by pledging that the coal mine and power plant in Turow will operate "until coal reserves run out." During a rally in Wroclaw, its leader Donald Tusk emphasised the importance of Poland's presence in and good relations with the EU.
• The far-right Confederation stuck with its economically libertarian and socially ultra-conservative agenda. The party remains on the offensive, establishing itself as the third-largest political force. There is a rising risk that nobody will be able to form government without their consent.
• The centrist Third Way (coalition between centrist Poland 2050 and agrarian PSL) sought to showcase itself as an alternative to the two largest parties, with its leaders promising to end the "tribal war" in local politics.
• The Left focused its campaign event around women's rights. The party unveiled a suite of proposals for women, seeking to present itself as their main political representation.
• The Institute for the Study of Internet and Social Media estimated that the local social media space was dominated by searches for the situation in Russia on Saturday. Among campaign events, the ruling party's rally had the largest social media reach, followed by the Civic Platform and Confederation.
• There has been little in the way of fiscal announcements of the scale seen at earlier stages of the election campaign, with most parties focusing on symbolism rather than detailed legislative proposals at this point.