Polish politics

[VoR]

Seems there’s a European election involving a far right former athlete/celebrity every weekend at this point, but for obvious reasons Poland’s trajectory will be particularly consequential.

Anyway, the exit poll for their Presidential election has the left candidate ahead of the obligatory right wing ghoul by less than a percentage point, with the highest turnout in the country’s history.

Exit polls suggest Polish presidential election too close to call – live

Pro-European Warsaw mayor, Rafał Trzaskowski, declares himself winner over Karol Nawrocki despite narrow margin

www.theguardian.com

 

[auretz]

I’ve been very burnt before with that Slovak exit poll that showed the liberal, pro-western party winning only for Fico to take it in the end. Are there any countries left where the far right isn’t close? Even the usually reliable Portugal have seen their equivalent make massive gains lately.

 

[AGinAg (37)]

It's ridiculously close. They have a liberal PM with Tusk, but Duda the outgoing President was a cunt who my Polish family despise. Deeply homophobic.

I don't have a great understanding of Polish politics but it seems neither option is genuinely liberal as we know it. Although the party of the guy in the lead is mildly less homophobic - they support civil partnerships. But that's it.

 

[auretz]

Interestingly, it seems Poles themselves are more liberal in terms of LGBT+ rights than their politicians

67% of Poles support legalizing same-sex marriage: survey

Sixty-seven percent of Poles support the right of same-sex couples to marry or legally register their relationship, according to the international Ipsos + Pride 2024 survey.

www.polskieradio.pl

 

[AGinAg (37)]

Interestingly, it seems Poles themselves are more liberal in terms of LGBT+ rights than their politicians

67% of Poles support legalizing same-sex marriage: survey

Sixty-seven percent of Poles support the right of same-sex couples to marry or legally register their relationship, according to the international Ipsos + Pride 2024 survey.

www.polskieradio.pl

The public is so often ahead.

 

[VoR]

I assume the Polish version of Labour’s terror of pissing off Reform voters is the mass of old school Catholics living in the Polish provinces.

 

[AGinAg (37)]

I assume the Polish version of Labour’s terror of pissing off Reform voters is the mass of old school Catholics living in the Polish provinces.

Well looking at the last few elections it's consistently pretty close, so I'm not surprised these supposed 'liberal conservatives' aren't more politically adventurous. Binary choices are a stupid fucking way to decide anything in politics.

But when it comes to LGBTQ+ rights, the impression I get is, that like nearly every western country, incremental change is the only tolerable method. Change in the UK was a slow grind and has now stalled and they're about 25 years behind.

 

[AGinAg (37)]

Will be interesting to see how Poland progresses. They have the potential to be a significant European power. If you ignore Russia and Ukraine for obvious reasons they have the sixth biggest population behind the big five. They just need to maintain stability. Their historical hatred of Russia puts them in a tricky spot, but aligns them nicely with the west.

 

[VoR]

I’ve been very burnt before with that Slovak exit poll that showed the liberal, pro-western party winning only for Fico to take it in the end. Are there any countries left where the far right isn’t close? Even the usually reliable Portugal have seen their equivalent make massive gains lately.

The far right candidate has just taken the lead in an update to the exit poll

 

[VoR]

Plot twist: Karol Nawrocki has now gone into lead in the late poll by Ipsos, as reported by Polsat.

50.7% for Nawrocki, 49.3% for Trzaskowski.

This is still too close to call, mind.

 

[auretz]

Nawrocki wins

 

[Lucille]

 

[VoR]

I don’t understand why so many countries have Presidential elections that are held seperately from parliamentary elections.

Like, regardless of their personal views, the Polish electorate has basically just voted for 3 years of legislative deadlock. Who does that benefit?

 

[octophone]

Well, fuck.