Bloomberg about elections in Poland: entrepreneurs who voted for Mentzen, a great chance for Trzaskowski

The government of Donald Tusk must attract the support of business representatives if he wants to win his candidate in the second round of presidential elections – the Bloomberg agency wrote on Wednesday. Entrepreneurs who voted for Sławomir Mentzen are a great opportunity for Rafał Trzaskowski – we read in the article.

Bloomberg reminded that – according to the Ipsos survey – Trzaskowski collected the most votes from all candidates in the first round among business leaders. However, almost 20 percent entrepreneurs declared their support for a candidate with far -right views; Mentzen's election slogan was “strong, rich Poland”.

According to Szymon Ossowski, a political scientist from the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, among the confederation candidate voters are people running small businesses outside Warsaw, including catering establishments, beauty salons and hairdressing salons. In his opinion, they see less benefits resulting from Poland's membership in the EU, and more strongly feel the daily costs associated with running a company and employing employees.

“Entrepreneurs who voted for Mentzen are a great opportunity for Trzaskowski,” said prof. Ossowski in an interview with Bloomberg. “He must win them if he dreams of victory,” emphasized the political scientist.

The article quotes the results of the survey, in which members of the Beauty Together organization, representing about 100,000 Polish entrepreneurs and specialists from the cosmetics industry. The study, conducted before the first round of elections, showed that 30.7 percent supported Trzaskowski, 27.4 percent Mentzen, and 6.7 percent Karol Nawrocki, a candidate supported by PiS.

“Ideological issues are important, but the economy is a priority,” said Michał Łenczyński, president of Beauty Together. “Many people are able to vote even against their beliefs to force politicians to meet their business expectations,” he added.

Bloomberg also recalls the statement of the President of the Polish Business Council Wojciech Kostrzewa, according to which Trzaskowski is “a symbol and guarantor of a pro -European position” and which will act for the “strong economic position, including within the EU.”

Kostrzewa stated that Poland's close relationships with the EU are crucial for large companies whose investments outside the country have increased rapidly in recent years.

As Bloomberg points out, for other Polish entrepreneurs the smooth cooperation of the next president with the Tusk government may be crucial for the introduction of changes that companies want. Among them, the agency mentions a reduction in health care contributions for entrepreneurs, which was vetoed in May by the current President Andrzej Duda. (PAP)

MZB/ AP/ KTL/