(16 Oct 2023)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Warsaw, Poland - 16 October 2023
1. Polish Institute of Public Affairs president Jacek Kucharczyk speaking during interview
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Jacek Kucharczyk, Polish Institute of Public Affairs president:
"There is a number of reasons why the Law and Justice party is not as popular as it was four years ago. First of all, we have a very different economic situation. There is a cost of living crisis and many voters attributed this situation to Law and Justice, prolific spending which fuelled inflation. So this is one of the concerns which often comes out in opinion research. But at least equally important is what's been happening to Polish democracy, to rule of law, to women's rights, to our external relations. I think you can say that people have been fed up with the policy of making enemies all around Poland and also of the corruption and the arrogance of this government. So largely, this was a protest vote against this type of conduct of power."
3. Close of Kucharczyk
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Jacek Kucharczyk, Polish Institute of Public Affairs president:
"Well first of all, these changes, there will be a lot of challenges for the new government because of very likely opposition from President (Andrzej) Duda who can veto the government legislations. And the new government, the new coalition will not have enough votes to override a presidential veto. Then there is the constitutional tribunal, which is now controlled by Law and Justice appointees, and will also be likely to make obstacles to the legislation, for example, the restoring the rule of law. So it will be a very prolonged and difficult process of, as the opposition calls it, a clean-up of the country after the eight years of democratic backsliding."
5. Wide of Kucharczyk
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Jacek Kucharczyk, Polish Institute of Public Affairs president:
"On the international scene, (Donald) Tusk will attempt to improve Poland's relations with our key partners, not just Germany, the European Union, but also with Ukrainians who with whom the current government fell out quite shortly before the elections. So this will be the big change. But fixing the relations with the EU in particular will require domestic changes, namely restoring the independence of judiciary, restoring the rule of law, which is a condition for the EU to release the funding for Poland."
7. Close of Kucharczyk's hands
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Jacek Kucharczyk, Polish Institute of Public Affairs president:
"Even though the opposition seems to be victorious now, they are likely to have majority of mandates. This success is even more remarkable knowing that the whole playing field was uneven. The election, (the) electoral system was really tilted towards the government. It made the opposition life very difficult, for example, by using administrative resources, by controlling the election administration, but by unfair division of votes into electoral districts. So it's like you could say that the opposition had to fight these elections with one hand tied behind its back and they still won."
9. Various of Kucharczyk
STORYLINE:
Poland's new government will likely face challenges in passing legislation, an analyst said on Monday, after opposition parties appeared to gain a combined majority as the nation waits for final results.
The opposition coalition had promised to repair the nation's constitutional order and its relationship with allies, including the European Union and Ukraine.
"The new coalition will not have enough votes to override a presidential veto," he said.
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