Opposition’s Rally & more–3rd Oct 2023

Witam from Keswick Village! This is the Rorshok Poland Update from the 3rd of October twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Poland.

Let’s get started with heated domestic debates!

All eyes are on the parliamentary election that will be held on the 15th of October.

On Sunday, the 1st, the Civic Platform, the main opposition party, held its second massive rally in Warsaw just before the elections. The leading figure in the march was Donald Tusk. Still, some members and supporters of other opposition parties, such as the Third Way alliance, and the Left Party, also participated in the rally. Opposition members stated that almost one million people took to the streets. The rally protested against the ruling party and its limitations on individual freedoms, including abortion rights.

But the drama did not stop there. On the same day, the ruling party, Law and Justice, held a convention in Katowice. Its supporters prevented opposition members from entering into the meeting spot.

Of course, the opposition took the convention as a response to their rally. In both events, harsh words and allegations against each other were said. As a result, a heated political debate sparked off both on social media and face-to-face.

More about the ruling party.

On Thursday, the 28th, experts forecast that Law and Justice will try to appeal to the emotions of the public rather than make new election promises. Reportedly, they are trying to attract floating voters in the last days of the election process.

As election day approaches, the number of floating voters is decreasing. Last polls showed that only five percent of the participants, on average, don't know which party to vote for.

On the other hand, the Third Way Alliance, composed of the Polish People’s Party and the Poland twenty fifty Party, keeps announcing their election promises. The alliance promised cheaper dormitories for students and the elimination of the gender pay gap.

Let’s go back to the results of polls for a minute…

On Thursday, the 28th, a politician from the Confederation Party evaluated the results of the last election polls. According to the results, Law and Justice, and the Civic Platform have increased their votes, which means that smaller parties saw a decrease in the number of voters. The Confederation Party member said that this was a result of a significant polarization the two main parties created during the election campaigns, leaving small parties behind. Civic Platform and Law and Justice lead the elections due to money and media. The ruling party is using state money to increase its visibility, while Civic Platform gets funding from its wider audience. Also, the media tends to cover only these two parties’ affairs.

Now, some news on foreign affairs.

On Thursday, the 29th, Prime Minister Morawiecki announced that Poland would veto the EU’s new migration deal next week. Recall that the EU wanted to share the burden of illegal immigrants between member countries, which Poland firmly rejected. Amid the complaints, the EU countries will arrange a new deal that will allow countries to opt out of the mandatory allocation of immigrants. Yet, the Polish government will reject this deal as well at the next summit. Rejecting the deal serves the ruling party’s interests because they know most Poles are tired of the country receiving immigrants and will vote for a party that is against immigration. However, The Left Party stated that it supports the deal as it allows Poland to apply for an opt-out.

Speaking of the EU and illegal immigrants…

On Wednesday, the 27th, unofficial resources said that Germany and Poland would introduce border controls on each other. The incident is due to deteriorating relations between both countries and an increase in the flow of illegal immigration. Recall that Poland had already imposed border controls on Slovakia.

When it comes to what Poles think about foreign affairs…

On Wednesday, the 27th, a poll showed that half of Poles supported the government’s decision not to give any further arms supplies to Ukraine. Worsening relations between both countries also affected public opinion in Poland, which doesn’t favor Ukraine. Poland now wants to develop its own army rather than spend its money on the country at war.

Since we mentioned Ukraine…

On Wednesday, the 27th, Poland’s agriculture minister held talks with his Ukrainian counterpart to solve the worsening relations between the two countries amid the grain ban. The Polish minister said his counterpart acknowledged that Ukrainian grain must not be allowed to enter the Polish market. Also, he urged Ukraine to drop its lawsuit against Poland in the World Trade Organization. Further talks will take place in the next few weeks.

Some other important international meetings are taking place in Warsaw.

On Tuesday, the 3rd, Warsaw hosted two important international conferences. The first one is the human rights conference of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. The conference is hosting one thousand participants from fifty-seven different countries, and it will last ten days. The other conference is the Warsaw Security Forum to discuss NATO’s and the EU’s security challenges.

Let’s move on to some news on culture,

On Friday, the 29th, the country opened the Polish History Museum, its largest cultural site, in Warsaw. Although the permanent exhibition will take another three years to build, for the time being, visitors can explore the temporary show titled "Big and Small Histories."

In unrelated news…

On Wednesday, the 27th, energy giant Orlen issued a warning after the country faced a shortage of oil in some gas stations. Although oil prices are increasing Europe-wide, Orlen keeps offering cheaper oil. Amid the lower prices, people tend to buy an excessive amount of gasoline, which is depleting oil stocks in the country.

On Friday, the 29th, a study showed that Poles are less eager for religious affairs, and their sympathy toward the Catholic Church has decreased. The Central Statistical Office shared the result of a twenty twenty-one study on religion and compared it with a twenty eleven investigation. More than eighty-seven percent of Poles defined themselves as Catholic in twenty eleven eleven, but it decreased to seventy-one percent in twenty twenty-one. According to experts, the number of people who do not want to share their religious beliefs increased because they now don’t trust the country’s Catholic Church as much as before.

And to close this edition, you should be careful against burglars disguised as chimney sweepers. These people come to citizens’ doors and say that they will check the ventilation duct. However, when they enter the house, they steal people’s valuable goods. If a chimney sweeper comes to your door, check the sweeper’s ID badge with a photo. Also, do not forget that real chimney sweepers do not just show up at your door, there is always an appointment made beforehand.

That’s it for this week! Thanks for joining us!

Did you enjoy this episode? If you like the show and want it to continue to be ad-free, we need your help. Spread the word, tell your group chats about how cool we are, message your friends and your family, tell your neighbor about all the interesting things you have been learning about Poland.

Tag us and message us on social media @rorshokpoland on Instagram and X and @poland@rorshok.social on Mastodon.

Do zobaczenia!