Poles Stand Behind Governing Civic Platform
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – The popularity of Poland’s governing Civic Platform (PO) party is on the rise, according to a poll by GfK Polonia published in Rzeczpospolita. 48 per cent of respondents would vote for the PO in the next legislative election, up four points since mid-June.
The opposition Law and Justice Party (PiS) is behind with 40 per cent, followed by the Democratic Left Alliance (SLD) with nine per cent, and the Peasant’s Party (PSL) with one per cent.
In October 2007, Polish voters renewed the Diet, or lower house of Parliament. Final results gave the PO 41.51 per cent of the vote and 209 seats, followed by the PiS with 32.11 per cent and 166 seats. In November, the PO and the PSL—who together hold 240 seats in the 460-member Diet—agreed to form a coalition government. PO leader Donald Tusk was sworn in as prime minister.
In Poland, the definition of presidential powers declares that the head of state is the "guardian of Polish sovereignty and security" who "co-operates" with the government. Last month, Bronislaw Komorowski of the PO won the presidential election in a run-off against Jaroslaw Kaczynski of the PiS with 53.01 per cent of the vote.
Kaczynski’s brother Lech served as the country’s president from December 2005 until April 2010. He was expected to seek a new term in office in an election tentatively scheduled for October 2010, but died—along with his wife Maria and 94 other government officials—in a plane crash while heading to an official ceremony in Russia.
Komorowski was the parliamentary speaker and took over as acting president following Lech Kaczynski’s death.
On Aug. 6, Komorowski was sworn in. In his inauguration speech, the new president vowed to strengthen Polish ties with the European Union (EU), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and Russia, declaring, "We want to reinforce, inspire and make the Old Continent more dynamic."
Polling Data
What party would you support in the next election?
|
|
Jul. 12
|
Jun. 15
|
May 11
|
|
Civic Platform (PO)
|
48%
|
44%
|
45%
|
|
Law and Justice Party (PiS)
|
40%
|
36%
|
36%
|
|
Democratic Left Alliance (SLD)
|
9%
|
8%
|
8%
|
|
Peasant’s Party (PSL)
|
1%
|
3%
|
5%
|
Source: GfK Polonia / Rzeczpospolita
Methodology: Interviews to 985 Polish adults, conducted from Jul. 8 to Jul. 12, 2010. Margin of error is 3 per cent.
