Polish opposition embarks on pre-election tour
PR dla Zagranicy
Grzegorz Siwicki
06.07.2019 08:45
The Civic Coalition, an alliance of Polish opposition groups, has embarked on a vote-getting tour in the run-up to the autumn’s parliamentary election.
The Polish opposition's Grzegorz Schetyna speaks during a news conference in Warsaw on Friday.Photo: PAP/Jakub Kamiński
Grzegorz Schetyna, leader of the Civic Platform (PO), Poland’s largest opposition party, told a news conference on Friday that the tour would begin with meetings with voters in central and eastern regions of the country over the weekend.
Schetyna also said that various opposition groups as well as local government officials were in talks to form a united front as part of the Civic Coalition ahead of parliamentary elections.
He added that various groups were examining possible "participation in coalition arrangements."
He said he hoped the rural-based Polish People's Party (PSL), which was part of a broad coalition of Polish opposition forces during May’s European elections, would decide to join the Civic Coalition.
The leaders of the Polish People's Party were on Saturday scheduled to meet to decide on the party's possible alliances in the autumn parliamentary elections.
Schetyna said he was convinced that only a united opposition could beat the ruling conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party and its allies at the ballot box later this year.
He appealed to "all communities” and “the democratic opposition” for “cooperation, openness and goodwill.”
The Civic Coalition is scheduled to hold a key convention in Warsaw next weekend amid efforts to work out an election platform, public broadcaster Polish Radio’s IAR news agency has reported.
The two-day convention is scheduled for July 12 and 13.
Meanwhile, Poland’s governing conservatives were this weekend expected to unveil their election platform at a key convention in the southern city of Katowice.
Poland’s conservative leader Jarosław Kaczyński last month thanked voters who supported his party and its allies in May’s European elections and asked for more votes during the national parliamentary ballot in the autumn.
The governing Law and Justice party garnered 45.38 percent of the vote in Poland’s European Parliament ballot, while its arch-rival, the European Coalition alliance of opposition parties, scored 38.47 percent.
The vote on May 26 was a key test for Poland’s political parties ahead of national parliamentary elections in the autumn.
(gs/pk)
Source: IAR