“Is there political life after populism? Poland can be a test” – this is the title of the article Steven Erlanger, the main diplomatic correspondent of “NYT” in Europe, and Andrew Higgins, head of the Eastern European Bureau of the Journal.
“A lot depends on the presidential election in Poland, whose first round will take place on Sunday, May 18, on the same day on which Romania, as expected, will give the victory in extra time for the presidency of the far -right nationalist and supporter of the president (USA Donald – PAP) Trump” – emphasize the correspondents of the New York daily.
The rest of the article under video material:
“Although he is not responsible for shaping the policy and to a large extent his office is ceremonial, but the Polish president has the right to veto, which can cause a lot of trouble to the current government. The outgoing president Andrzej Duda used it intensively to deraise the laws adopted by the parliament” – the authors further explain.
Therefore, the presidential election will be “A test of critical importance“For the central government, headed by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, and whether he will be able to improve the situation after the populist rule of the previous office – write Erlanger and Higgins.
They remind you that the previous government “filled the justice system with its loyalists, liquidated or marginalized independent supervisory bodies and changed public broadcasters into a propaganda tube.”
“Duda, a definite PiS ally, torpedoed all procedures” to heal these institutions after the rule of his party, vexing the law voted in the Sejm or referring them to “consultation to courts filled with nominees of the previous government” – explains “NYT”.
Among the candidates for the office of the president “two conservatives want to continue to block the Tusk program”, and one of them, Karol Nawrocki, Trump “received in the White House at the beginning of May, offering him the honor that Tusk was denied” – emphasizes the authors.
Read also: Presidential election. Who can vote?
They point out that Rafał Trzaskowski, the “liberal leader” of the presidential race, rejects PiS claims, which the party maintains that only it gives Poland guarantees security because she has good relations with Trump.
Erlanger and Higgins quote a fragment of Trzaskowski's speech in Zamość: “Our security depends not only on good relations with the US, (…) But also on whether we play an important role in the European Union.”
