Despite a promise made a year ago by liberal Civic Coalition leader Donald Tusk, Poland’s largest opposition party, that voters would not be able to find opponents of abortion on its lists, former deputy prime minister of the Law and Justice (PiS) ruling party, Roman Giertych, has been included.
Giertych served as deputy prime minister for the now politically irrelevant far-right party Polish Families League between 2006 and 2007. At the time, his political organisation formed a shaky coalition alliance with the far-right Law and Justice (PiS) and the social-nationalist Self-Defence, ending in snap elections.
Of this unusual juxtaposition, only PiS and Giertych himself have survived in Polish politics to this day – PiS as the party that has ruled the country for eight years, and Giertych as a political columnist and commentator.
In recent years, Giertych has become a critic of the ruling party. Nevertheless, indications are that his views have not changed much.
And Giertych’s views then were strongly radical. The politician is described as the ‘godfather’ of the modern Polish radical right. During his time in government, he worked with a young Krzysztof Bosak, now one of the leaders of Poland’s largest radical-right party, Confederation. He also makes no secret of the fact that he still considers abortion to be morally wrong.
In 1989, Giertych reactivated the All-Polish Youth (Młodzież Wszechpolska), an organisation referring to the radical right-wing and anti-Semitic youth organisation of the inter-war period. The organisation exists to this day and causes great controversy – its activists are often unsparing in their words and challenges towards sexual minorities, refugees or left-wing activists. In 2021, five organisation activists were convicted of beating a liberal activist.
Giertych’s acceptance on the lists of the Civic Coalition, preparing for the parliamentary elections in Poland to be held on 15 October, has outraged and disgusted many people.
There is no hiding this from politicians from the Left – the social democratic coalition in the Polish parliament, who, although they see their future in a coalition government with the Civic Coalition, do not spare negative comments towards the Liberals’ decision.
“We are going to the elections to remove PiS from power and to hold its representatives to account. It is not possible to do this together with people who used to govern with PiS,” New Left party MP Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk told EURACTIV.pl.
“When we go to the elections and say that we want to remove Przemyslaw Czarnek (the controversial right-wing education minister – ed.) from office, we want to remove him not to bring his prototype and people who have introduced very similar policies and right-wing narratives in Polish education into the Parliament”, she said.
“We are also going to the elections wanting to prevent the rule of the extreme right, not to introduce into Parliament the man who resurrected the All-Polish Youth and is the godfather of the Confederation. When we say we want legal abortion up to the 12th week of pregnancy, it is not to invite opponents of women’s rights into the parliament,” Dziemianowicz-Bąk noted.
“Opposition voters will have a choice on 15 October and will decide which lists they want to vote for,” the MP added.
Source: Euractiv
