Coalition will be difficult in Poland after rival parties of right win top spots

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Coalition will be difficult in Poland after rival parties of right win top spots

Published: Sunday, October 22nd, 2023 @ 9:38 pm
By: John Steed ( More Entries )

Poland's parliamentary election saw the governing populist / nationalist anti-immigration Law and Justice Party (PiS) come in first and the traditional conservative Civic Platform second, but either would need a coalition to form a new government. The parties are bitter enemies on a personal level between their leadership but also differ widely on the country's relationship with the EU.

Law and Justice is trying to organize a three party coalition between itself, the even more rightwing populist Confederation alliance, one of whose components advocates restoration of Poland's monarchy, and the agrarian conservative Polish Peoples Party (PSL), which has been a Law and Justice partner in a previous coalition. Law and Justice is offering major positions, either the presidency or the prime minister's office to the Polish Peoples Party.

On the other hand, Civic Platform is attempting to put together an unwieldy ten party coaltion of parties with widely different viewpoints, and would likely also need the Polish Peoples Party to make it work. The EU is pushing hard for Civic Platform's Donald Tusk.

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/polands-pis-seeks-coalition-with-agrarian-center-right/

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John Steed said:

( October 23rd, 2023 @ 9:56 am )

Summed up, Polish politics has gotten a lot more fragmented. The farthest right party, actually a coalition of smaller parties but functioning as a single party, Confederation, made gains but is still far behind the major parties of the right, Law and Justice on the populist side and Civic Platform on the traditional side. Only once since the fall of communism has a single party been able to achieve a majority in Poland by itself, and that was Law and Justice. Poland is back to a more fragmented situation but with a whole lot more seats in parliament for parties of the right than parties of the left. The result also means than one of the two major parties of the right will lead the new government, and it is Law and Justice with the better path to a stable coalition.

Big Bob said:

( October 23rd, 2023 @ 9:28 am )

Summed up. The far right party lost.

borderhawk said:

( October 23rd, 2023 @ 8:46 am )

Who is successful in forming Poland's government matters a lot for immigration issues in Europe. A major Third World pathway to Europe in the last few years has been flying to Belarus and trying to cross into Poland. Most illegals want to go ultimately to Germany.

Law and Justice has been one of the strongest parties in Europe fighting illegal immigration, and their continuance in government would insure a continuance of this posture. As the largest party, they do not need as many partners, and can hopefully form a three party government, with all parties on the same page of stopping illegal immigration.

The last time Civic Platform was in power, they defied an EU ultimatum on accepting a quota of migrants, but only after some initial waffling. Now, they are heavily in debt politically to the EU, so they may not be in a position to do that again. Also, to form a government, they will need a coalition that contains both parties who was pro-migrant as well as other anti-immigration parties. Trying to please both is likely to lead to some weird policy. In fact, any serious immigration issue that arises could collapse a government so divided on that issue.

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