2019-10-12_The_Economist_

TheEconomistOctober 12th 2019 53

1

P

oland has a president and a prime

minister. But Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the

leader of the nationalist Law and Justice

(pis) party, is its true ruler. From party

headquarters on Warsaw’s Nowogrodzka,

above a pool club, pishas moved Poland in

a strikingly illiberal direction since coming

to power in 2015. At parliamentary elec-

tions on October 13th, pisis offering voters

lavish handouts, social conservatism and

what Mr Kaczynski calls the fight for “Pol-

ish dignity”. Liberals loathe the party’s tac-

tics and much of what it stands for, but

polls suggest that pisis on track for a re-

markable re-election win.

Four years ago the party took Poland by

storm. It defeated the centrist Civic Plat-

form, which had governed since 2007, and

became the first party to be able to govern

the country without the need for a co-

alition since the overthrow of communism

in 1989. Within weeks, it had moved to

place the public television broadcaster and

the constitutional tribunal in the hands of

sympathisers, triggering a lengthy dispute

with the European Commission over the

rule of law. Later, it tried to overhaul the Su-

preme Court by lowering the retirement

age for its judges, forcing around one-third

of them to retire early (under pressure from

the eu, this change was later reversed).

Some of pis’s changes echo ones intro-

duced in Hungary by its prime minister,

Viktor Orban, who shares its disdain for eu

restraints. What sets Poland apart from

other countries is the “comprehensiveness

and cumulative effect of the ways in which

liberal democracy is being undone”, argues

Wojciech Sadurski, of the University of

Sydney, in a new book “Poland’s Constitu-

tional Breakdown”.

Many Poles don’t much care. pishas

successfully appealed to people who feel

left behind by economic and social

changes since 1989, especially outside big

cities. After coming to power, it lowered

the retirement age, then 67, to 65 for men

and 60 for women, despite a rapidly grey-

ing population. It introduced a monthly

handout to parents of 500 zloty ($127) per

child after the first, extended to all children

this summer. In the run-up to the elec-

tions, it has dished out money in all direc-

tions, including a one-off extra pension

payment for the elderly, exempting work-

ers up to the age of 26 from income tax and,

from October 1st, lowering the income tax

rate from 18% to 17%. It promises almost to

double the minimum wage if re-elected.

The party “might not be a knight on a white

horse”, but it is working hard, says the nar-

rator in a pis campaign video aimed at

young voters, which contains an uncharac-

teristic reference to Tinder, an online dat-

ing app.

Uncharacteristic because the party also

presents itself as the protector of the tradi-

tional Polish family. A future opposition

government would be dominated by forces

that want “the radical destruction of the

moral and cultural order” in Poland,

warned Mr Kaczynski (pictured) in an in-

Poland

PiS at the polls

WARSAW

Growth, handouts and gay-bashing should see the ruling party re-elected

On trackfora bigwin

Sources:IBRiS;Polishinteriorministry *October8th 2019

Poland, parliamentaryelection,%ofvote

0 20 40 60 80 100

Latest*

2015 election

result

PiS/United Right

PiS

Polish Coalition

Kukiz

Polish People’s Party

PO/Civic Coalition

Modern PO

The Left

Democratic Left Alliance

Others

Others

Europe

54 Building“FortTrump”

55 Portugal’selection

55 PolicemurdersinFrance

56 Charlemagne: Russia and the EU

Also in this section