Kebab, stadium and pissing everyone off. Expert: Nawrocki is “anti-Tusk”

The image of President Karol Nawrocki is consistent with what he presented during the election campaign, say prof. Rafał Chwedoruk and prof. Jarosław Flis. In an interview with PAP, they assessed, among other things, that the president, thanks to his age, communication style and image as an athlete, complements PiS's deficits among the electorate between 20 and 50 years of age.

From the time of the presidential campaign, through the moment of his swearing in, to the present, Nawrocki has been building his image as a man of the people using various gestures. Whether it is going for a kebab with students, appearing at football matches, not only of our national team, but also during league games, being active on social media or appearing more often in informal clothes – all this reduces the social distance and, according to prof. Flisa from the Jagiellonian University is part of broader changes at the interface between society and representatives of power.

Nawrocki is gonethe metropolitan style of Rafał Trzaskowski”

The sociologist noted that during the presidential campaign, Nawrocki managed to some extent to build the image of a civic candidate, supported by PiS, but not directly related to the rule of this party. At the same time, he created the image of an anti-government candidate, standing in opposition to the “big-city style of Rafał Trzaskowski” and a man who achieved success despite the fact that he had a difficult start.

A similar opinion is expressed by UW political scientist Prof. Rafał Chwedoruk. In his opinion, sort of we are still “living in an election campaign”and the president's image is consistent and a direct continuation of what he presented before his swearing-in.

The basis of this image is that Karol Nawrocki is not Donald Tusk in every dimension. Starting with the youth dimension. Today, Donald Tusk can no longer be the Donald Tusk from the first decade of the 21st century, working hard, he emphasized.

According to the political scientist, this is visible on many levels – from clothing, through the range of behavior to the substantive dimension, and – as he added – as long as Tusk serves as prime minister, “Nawrocki will be placed in this place by his political base.” Especially since it is – Chwedoruk noted – one of the few bonds between the Confederation and PiS electorates.

PiS goal: electorate between 20 and 50 years old

Prof. Chwedoruk also assessed that Nawrocki fills the deficits of Law and Justice in terms of support among people between 20 and 50 years of age. That's why his communication on social media, or more broadly on the Internet, is so important presence in media such as Kanał Zero.

On the other hand, through his image as an athlete, the president also partially appeals to the metropolitan middle class electorate.

– To win a plebiscitary election, you have to be close to the center, but not necessarily in terms of party division or ideology, but in terms of lifestyle. You have to do things that are understandable to everyone, so it's about being like this every day. And this type of sports attributes, such as maintaining physical fitness, are something normal in today's society – said the UW political scientist.

Will Nawrocki fall into the trap of “pissing everyone off”?

Prof. Flis admitted that Nawrocki's current actions, including vetoes and submitted draft laws, are consistent with his image during the election campaign. In his opinion, the head of state falls into traps and problems that arise in connection with “the position of the president in the Polish political system.” As he adds, the president already knows that although “you can't please everyone, but you can piss everyone off”.

For now, we see that it is not easy to maintain a balance between the ruling camp and those places where the ruling camp has the majority of the population behind it in opinion polls, as was the case with the Chain Act and balancing between PiS and Confederation. Because Nawrocki owes his election to these two parties and circles.

Adrian Kowarzyk (PAP)

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