Poland: local elections put Tusk to the test
The national-conservative former ruling party PiS has emerged as the strongest force in the regional and local elections held in Poland on Sunday. But despite the opposition's success, the governing camp managed to secure similar results to those it obtained in the parliamentary elections last October and retain the key mayoral posts in Warsaw and Gdansk.
PiS voters have no alternative
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung explains the continued popularity of the former ruling party:
“The PiS represents the large group of Poles who are nationalist, Catholic and conservative. If these people don't want to vote for a party that is ideologically distant from them, they have no alternative to the PiS. In addition, the party's success in local strongholds is also based on local politicians who are firmly rooted in their communities and who - in contrast to the party's leadership in Warsaw, which is driven by ideology and a desire for power - act pragmatically. Without a party with the PiS's ideological profile many Poles would have no political representation. At the same time, however, the PiS in its current form is a threat to democracy.”
Self-criticism is not weakness
The Tages-Anzeiger praises the new style of communication in the country:
“Tusk congratulates and thanks, but above all immediately points out the shortcomings, the fact that the mobilisation of voters in the rural areas and in the east has failed again, that young voters stayed away. His coalition partners are also self-critical, they present themselves as humbled and promise to work harder and more efficiently. These are tones that have never been heard from a PiS government, which swam in self-praise and belittled its opponents. But a democratic government, rather than just a democratically elected one, discusses things, sometimes revises them and admits mistakes. ... That is not a weakness of this government, it is its strength.”
Just an interlude?
Polityka comments on the response of European media to the Polish local elections:
“The gap between urban and rural areas is widening - which foreign journalists have not failed to recognise. The PiS has no chance of winning in the cities, but the urban centres are too small a force to give liberals and progressive movements a dominant position at the national level. Nevertheless, for many foreign media this election was just an interlude, not the ultimate test for the Tusk government. The results of the European elections will be important - and here the right may do even better.”
PiS still an opponent to be reckoned with
The local elections are a warning to the Tusk government, Rzeczpospolita writes:
“Although their result confirms that the four-party coalition still has a mandate to govern, the overall results show a certain stagnation of this support and no bonus for past performance. ... If one wanted to summarise the results in one sentence, one would have to say: the ruling majority still has a serious competitor, and the PiS has not yet spoken its last word.”
Psychologically important
The PiS-affiliated news website wPolityce.pl sees the results as a hopeful sign:
“Securing first place in the elections to the regional assemblies is a major success for PiS both politically and psychologically. It paves the way for success in the European elections, as well as for further victories, including in the presidential and parliamentary elections. In the long run, the process of wear and tear on the current government will accelerate.”
Populists making a comeback?
Poland is at risk of following a bad example, Gazeta Wyborcza warns:
“In several countries, more or less broad coalitions were formed that succeeded in ousting the populists from power. But once the enthusiasm subsided after the elections it turned out that they were unable to govern effectively, and the electorate quickly forgot what it was like under their predecessors. ... The first decade of the 21st century saw the return of Silvio Berlusconi in Italy and Viktor Orbán in Hungary. In next year's elections the Czech democratic coalition could lose to the party of populist Andrej Babiš, who wants to be prime minister again. In six months' time, we will see whether the US Democrats succeed in stopping Donald Trump's comeback.”