Poland is moving to the right

In Poland, on the eve of the parliamentary elections on September 25 and the presidential elections on October 9, the struggle for both voters and candidates is intensifying. Created only in May, the Democratic Party (DP) has skillfully lured away politicians from both the right and the left. Thus, the ruling Left Democratic Alliance (LDA) recently lost its prime minister, Marek Bielki, who agreed to run for the DP in Lodz. According to sociologists, the Democratic Party will overcome the 5 percent barrier, winning the “moderate electorate.” Poland is expected to recover after the elections, driven by distrust of the left due to corruption scandals and still high unemployment.

The struggle for the presidency began. The presidential candidate from the left, former Foreign Minister and former Prime Minister of Poland Włodzimierz Cimoszewicz, slipped from the top of the ranking to 4th place, giving way to the center-right. The reason is a financial scandal. Mr. Cimoshevic may leave the race altogether if violations in his income declaration are proven.

The August celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Gdańsk trade union Solidarity, led by Lecha Walesa, gives a special touch to the election battles. At the end of the month, world leaders will gather for the anniversary. However, the head of Soviet perestroika, Mikhail Gorbachev, did not accept the invitation. He considers the idea that Solidarity played a leading role in the emergence of Eastern Europe from Moscow's wing to be greatly exaggerated. “Until changes began in the USSR, everything remained the same,” Gorbachev explained.

Katerina LABETSKAYA