Polish Election 2007

30 October 2007
Donald Tusk on a flying visit to London to say thank you

Donald Tusk is coming to London for a few hours on Saturday 3 November, mainly to say thank you to thousands of Polish immigrants who helped his party win in the recent parliamentary election.
According to the Polish Consulate in London, 62% of Polish voters in Britain voted for Tusk's party, the Civic Platform, with only 11% voting for the Kaczynskis party, the Law and Justice.

21 October 2007
Initial Election Results

Civic Platform (PO): 43.7%
Law and Justice (PiS): 30%
The Left (LiD): 13.3%

The winning party, The Civic Platform, was also predicted to be a firm winner among Polish immigrants in the UK. Its leader, Donald Tusk, is likely to be the next Prime Minister.


10 October 2007
Election is coming. Save the country. Hide Grandma's ID Card!

This pre-election slogan has been on everybody's lips in Poland in the last few days. It is not quite clear who coined it, but it became a motto of a popular website devoted to political satire and it has spread by text messages among millions of Poles.
Its authors suggest that restricting old people's participation in the imminent parliamentary election (21st October 2007) might provide cure for several of Poland's political ills. Specifically it might reverse the country's slide towards even greater catholic conservatism.
The catch-phrase has been copied by over 3000 other websites which share the sentiment.

Naturally, not everybody is impressed. Polish Parliamentary Chairman (Speaker) referred to promoting the slogan as yobbish behaviour which should be dealt with by accordingly, by criminal courts.  



Election is coming.....Hide Grandma's ID Card....

19 October 2007
How the Polish immigrants in the UK are likely to vote

A record 68,000 Poles registered for the Sunday vote in Britain and Ireland by the 16 October deadline, 20,000 of which in Ireland.

According to a Polish daily newspaper Rzeczpospolita, Poles in the UK are most likely to vote for the Civic Platform party. 51% of Poles in the UK intend to vote for them. The Civic Platform's leader, Donald Tusk visited Britain recently for a series of meetings with immigrant groups.  His popularity among immigrants might have increased as a result of his declarations that he would abolish double taxation rules which currently affect a large group of Poles working abroad.

This contrasts dramatically with comments made a while ago by Polish president who called Polish immigrants in the UK 'feckless'.  The president represents the governing party, Law and Justice (PiS). Poles in the UK are not likely to forget this unfortunate choice of a word any time soon. 

Approximately one third of Polish immigrants in Britain declare they will take part in the election.  Another source estimates that no more than 100,000 Poles in the UK will vote on the day.

The way the system works, all the Poles abroad will be casting their votes for a central Warsaw list of candidates. A lot of Poles in the UK are discouraged by this. As the majority of Poles in the UK come from small towns and villages in Poland (areas of high unemployment and poor job prospects) they feel that voting for the Warsaw list makes little or no sense for them.


Background Information - Poland in 2007

Main Polish Political Parties
Radio Maryja