Poland votes on Sunday. The legislative elections pit the ruling Pis party, the nationalist and populist Pis, against the pro-European camp. The two are neck and neck. One subject attracts attention: it is immigration.
Polish conservatives, who have never been afraid of caricature, present migrants from the other side of the Mediterranean as an army of rapists and murderers, an existential threat to the identity and values of a deeply Catholic country. Since the great crisis of 2015 (the year of their return to power), migrants have been their favorite scapegoat.
So when several thousand illegal immigrants arrive in Lampedusa in September, the PiS inevitably puts coal back into the machine, before the legislative elections scheduled for Sunday October 15. A leaflet is distributed in mailboxes, a pretty glossy paper with a photo of refugees crowded on an inflatable boat and this title “they arrive“.
Warsaw vs Brussels
And to encourage its voters to come out, the party organized two referendums at the same time as the legislative elections. The first asks: “Are you in favor of admitting thousands of illegal immigrants from the Middle East and Africa, as required by the compulsory distribution mechanism for asylum seekers provided by the European bureaucracy?
It’s barely oriented… But the government does not hide its disagreements with Brussels, quite the contrary. There is no question of us bowing to its “diktat” as Warsaw regularly says, which is increasing attacks on the rule of law. Attacks against the judicial system, against LGBT people, against women’s rights… In eight years, Le Pis has methodically undermined the achievements of democracy. Today, the campaign spots are like this, crude, full of disinformation… but conscientiously broadcast by public television.
Donald Tusk, target of criticism
These excesses also target the opposition. Donald Tusk, former president of the European Council, today at the head of the civic coalition, which is in the lead with the ultra-conservatives, is presented as the puppet of Berlin, accused of not being patriotic enough. Pis leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski, who cannot see him in painting, even called him “personification of absolute evil“That gives you an idea of the debates.
Donald Tusk, who places emphasis on the economy, above all wants to re-align Poland with the progressive values of Europe. He managed to mobilize a million people in the streets on October 1, an unprecedented show of force.
Towards a government coalition
But society remains deeply divided and whichever party wins, it will have to form an alliance with other small groups. The conservatives could also appeal to Konfederacja’s far right.
For many observers, including Dorota Dakowska, professor of political science in France, quoted by AFP, it is about the vote “the largest since 1989“. Because what is at stake is the future of democracy in Poland.