Poland readies Sunday for general elections, referendum

By Murat Temizer

Warsaw (AA) - Poland will head to the polls Sunday for general elections and respond to a four-question referendum.

Political parties will compete for the 460 seats in the lower house of the two-chamber parliament, the Sejm, and the 100 seats in the upper house, the Senate.

The term of representatives in the Sejm and the Senate is set at four years, and political parties need to exceed a 5% threshold, while political alliances need to exceed 8%.

The participation rate in the parliamentary elections held Oct/ 13, 2019, was 61.74%.

In that election, the conservative-nationalist Law and Justice Party (PiS), led by Jaroslaw Kaczynski, received the most votes with 43.59%. The United Right alliance formed by PiS, the Solidarna Polska, and Porozumienie parties, won 235 seats in the Sejm, securing a majority.

Under the leadership of Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, the Cabinet took office Nov. 19, 2019, after receiving a vote of confidence.

According to the latest poll shared in the Polish press, the ruling Law and Justice Party is at 35.81%, while the main opposition party, Civic Coalition (KO), is in second with 31.38%.

According to the poll, it is highly likely that the government led by the Law and Justice Party will not be able to form another coalition.

The Third Way, a coalition of the center-right party Poland 2050 and the agrarian-focused Polish People's Party (PSL) has an estimated vote share of 10.71%.

The New Left follows with 10.48% and the far-right Confederation (Konfederacja) with 8.72%.

The poll suggests that the participation rate in the elections is expected to reach 68%.

Furthermore, 38% of those polled said they would participate in the four-question referendum covering issues such as the EU's proposed immigrant resettlement plan, the sale of state assets, the future of the Poland-Belarus border fence and the retirement age. This referendum will be valid when at least 50% plus one vote is cast.

Polish President Andrzej Duda announced Aug. 8 that the country would hold parliamentary elections Oct. 15.

*Writing by Alperen Aktas from Istanbul